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THE 



BOOK OF THE COLONIES; 



COMPRISING 



A HISTORY OF THE COLONIES 



COMPOSING 



THE UNITED STATES, 



THE DISCOVERY IN THE TENTH CENTURY UNTIL THE COMMENCEMENT 
OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 



COMPILED FROM THE BEST AUTHORITIES, 

BY JOHN FROST, LL.D., 

Author of the " Book of the Army," and " Book of the Navy." 




NEW YORK: 
D. APPLETON & CO. 200 BROADWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA.: 

G. S. APPLETON, 148 CHESNUT STREET. 
1846. 



Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by 

JOHN FROST, 

In the office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States in and for 

the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 






PREFACE. 

A FRIEND, who is SO kind as to express a favour- 
able opinion respecting the " Book of the Navy''^ and 
the " Book of the Army^^'' suggested the propriety of 
completing the series by a " Book of the Colonies,'''^ 
As the two former works present a view of the naval 
and military history of the country from the declara- 
tion of independence to the present time, and the 
Book of the Colonies gives a general history, from 
the earliest times to the commencement of the revo- 
lutionary war ; we have thus a review of the main 
current of history through the whole period of our 
colonial and national existence; while each of the 
volumes is a complete and distinct work, having its 
proper subject and unity. 

This present work is chiefly drawn from Murray, 
whose chapters on the colonization of the United 
States are written with great care, with access to a 
first-rate collection of authorities, and in a spirit of 
intelligent liberality, as admirable as it is rare. 

(3) 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

CHAPTER I. — The Northmen— Columbus — The Cabots.— Voyage of Nad- 
dod — of Floki — Ingulf— Voyage of Eric — Greenland colonized — Voyage 
of Biarne — Voyage of Leif— Discovery of Grapes — ^Thorwald — Voyage of 
Thorfinn — of Gadleif— Biarne's Presents — Historical Evidence — Colum- 
bus — His Voyage — Voyage of the Cabots 9 

CHAPTER n. — Spanish Expeditions. — Ponce de Leon — Florida — Expedition 
of Gomez — Expedition of Narvaez — Alvaro — Fernando de Soto — Dis- 
covery of the Mississippi — Death of Soto — Moscoso — Cancello - - 25 

CH.^PTER III. — French Expeditions, — Verazzano — Coligni — Ribault — Lau- 
donniere — Menendez — Massacre of the Huguenots — Expedition of De 
Gourgues — Retaliation by De Gourgues 61 

CHAPTER IV. — Settlement of Virginia. — Amadas and Barlow — Lane's 
Expedition — White — Gosnold — Weymouth — Settlement at Jamestown — 
Condition of the Colony — Smith taken Prisoner — Pocahontas — Smith ex- 
plores the Chesapeake — Coronation of Powhatan — Arrival of Lord Dela- 
ware—Pocahontas in England— First Representative Assembly— The great 
Massacre— Berkeley appointed Governor— Beniiet chosen Governor— The 
Navigation Act — Bacon's Rebellion — Culpeper appointed Governor — 
Nicholson's Government — Spotswood's Expedition - - - - 73 

CHAPTER V. — Settlement of Maryland. — Arrival of Calvert — Settlement 
of Kent Island — Difficulties with Clayborne — Settlement of Anne Arun- 
del — Civil Dissensions — Civil War— Catholic Governor - - - - 130 

CHAPTER VI.— Settlement of New England. — Arrival of Smith— Grants 
to the Plymouth Company— The Pilgrims— Settlement of New Plymouth 
—Treaty with Massassoit— Prosperity of the Colonies— Settlement of 
Boston— Form of Colonial Government — Religious Dissensions— Banish- 
ment of Roger Williams— Female Fanaticism— Sir Henry Vane— First 
Religious Synod— Dissensions in the Colony — Rise of the Quakers— De- 
cline of Fanaticism — Opposition to the Crown— Charter cancelled — 
Charter revived— Destruction of the Pequods— Destruction of the Narra- 
gansetts— Christianity among the Narragansetts— Parly Controversies- 
Connecticut colonized— Charter cancelled— Rhode Island— Early History 

of Maine 153 

1* (V) 



VI CONTENTS. 

PAQB 

CHAPTER VII. — Settlement of Pennsylvania.— Penn obtains a Charter- 
Arrival of Emigrants— Question of Boundary— Internal Dissensions— Trial 
of Penn— Discontents in the Colony— Population of Pennsylvania - - 215 

CHAPTER VIII.— Settlement of New York and New Jersey — New 
York— New Amsterdam— Swedish Colony — Conquest by the English- 
Abdication of James— Strifes in the Colony— Burnet's Administration- 
Settlement of New Jersey 230 

CHAPTER IX.— Carolina and Georgia — Settlement of Carolina— New 
Constitution— Religious Difficulties— Massacre of Port Royal— Effects of 
Slavery— Settlement of Georgia— Arrival of Oglethorpe — Attack on St. 
Augustine— Spaniards attempt to retaliate— Oglethorpe's successful Ope- 
rations—Dissatisfaction of the Colonists— Georgia becomes a royal 
Colony - - - - 245 

CHAPTER X.— General Affairs of the Colonies to the Peace in 1764. 
—War with the French— Acadia and Newfoundland ceded to the Eng- 
lish — Seizure of Louisburg— French Aggressions— Washington's Expedi- 
tion-Fort Du Quesne built— Activity of Washington — Capitulation of 
Fort Necessity — Colonial Convention— Franklin— Proposed General Go- 
vernment for the Colonies— Defeat of Braddock— Expedition against 
Crown Point— Montcalm captures the Forts at Oswego— Massacre at 
Fort William Henry— William Pitt— Wolfe— Victory at Quebec, and 
Death of Wolfe— Assault on Ticonderoga— Fort du Quesne abandoned by 
the French— Evacuation of Ticonderoga and Crown Point — Niagara taken 
—Capitulation of Montreal— Canada and adjacent Countries ceded to the 
English— Acquisition of Florida— Rapid Growth of the Colonies - - 262 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, 



Sebastian Cabot page 9 

Biarne's Presents 17 

Landing of Columbus 22 

Tail-piece — Columbus 24 

Ponce de Leon 25 

Ponce de Leon wounded 28 

Narvaez's March to Apalachen 32 

Fernando de Soto 41 

Soto discovering the Mississippi 57 

Verazzano 61 

Coligni 64 

Captain John Smith 73 

The Indian's Breastplate 75 

Grenville burning an Indian Village 77 

Smith showing the Compass 92 

Pocahontas rescuing Smith 93 

Captain Smith exploring the Chesapeake 95 

Capture of Pocahontas 103 

The Christian Indian discovering the Plot of the Massacre 109 

The great Massacre 110 

Arrest of Harvey , 115 

Opechancanough reproving Berkeley 117 

George Calvert, first Lord Baltimore 130 

Settlement of St. Mary's 133 

Oliver Cromwell 143 

Landing of the Pilgrims 161 

Treaty with Massasoit 165 

Settlement of Boston 171 

Banishment of Roger Williams 178 

Sir Henry Vane 181 

Governor Winthrop 182 

Destruction of the Pequods - 197 

Eliot preaching to the Indians 201 

Emigration of Hooker •. 207 

(7) 



VIU LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Roger Williams entertained by the Indians page 209 

William Penn 215 

Treaty Monument 219 

Penn's Interview with Lord Baltimore 222 

Governor Stuy vesant 233 

Lord Clarendon 246 

General Oglethorpe 257 

Savannah in 1778 261 

Wreck of the Fleet. 264 

Washington and St. Pierre 267 

Benjamin Franklin 270 

Massacre at Fort William Henry 275 

William Pitt 276 

Death of General Wolfe 277 




Sebastian Cabot, 



CHAPTER I. 

THE NORTHMEN— COLUMBUS— THE CABOTS. 

OR many ages, the honour of having first reached 
the transatlantic continent, by sailing from Eu- 
rope, was awarded to Columbus. But that honour 
seems now likely to be wrested from him by the 

^^^^^^^ _^ Northmen, whose claim to a prior discovery, never 

relinquished by the Icelandic scholars, has been recently revived, 
and powerfully supported, by the Royal Society of Antiquaries, 
at Copenhagen. They base the claim of the Northmen upon 




10 VOYAGE OF FLOKI. 

the facts recorded by the Icelandic authorities, a summary of 
which is here given. The Scandinavians were the best navi- 
gators in the world, their skill in nautical science being shown 
by the undisputed fact, that their vessels were to be seen, at 
the same time, in every sea, from the Mediterranean to the 
Baltic, from the extremity of Finland Gulf to the entrance of 
Davis's Straits. As pirates and rovers, they, at a very remote 
period, discovered in the Orkney Islands a secure retreat from 
the storms and tempests of the north seas, as well as from the 
arms of the enraged people whom they had surprised and 
plundered. When these pirates were no longer tolerated in 
Norway, the Orkneys became their perpetual abode. Hence 
originated those formidable expeditions which ravaged every 
coast, from the south of Ireland to the extremity of the Gulf 
of Finland. 

In 888, Harold Harfager, the great conqueror of Norway, 
sent a powerful armament into these seas, with a view to sup- 
press their ravages. From this period the Orkneys, the Shet- 
land Isles, and the Hebrides, began to assume an important part 
in the transactions of the north. Iceland was known to the 
Irish missionaries before it was discovered by Norwegians, but 
they found it uninhabited in the year 861. It was then acci- 
dentally discovered by Naddod, who named it Snoeland ; but 
who did not know that it was an island. In the followinof 
year it was visited by a Swede ; and in 863, the Norwegian 
Floki sailed to the new found territory, with a design to found 
there a colony; but the mysterious quaking of the ground 
troubled him, and he resolved to return to Norway. His fol- 
lowers, however, gave a favourable account of the islar.d ; they 
praised its fish, its climate, and its soil. " It was," said they 
" a place where men might hve in freedom, far away from kings 
and jarls." 

In 874, Ingulf, the son of a Norwegian jarl, having slain his 
adversary, fled from the consequences of his act, to Iceland, 
where he, with his brother-in-law, Jorleif, founded colonies. 



VOYAGE OF ERIC. 11 

Many new emigrations from the parent country followed, the 
people being weary of their tyrannical rulers, and anxious to 
live in a country where no kings, no jarls were to be found. 
The feuds of the nobles, also, caused many additions to the 
number of the emigrants. Thus Jorwald, a Norwegian jarl, 
was compelled to leave his country. He fled to Iceland, 
where, after his death, his son, Eric Randa (the Red), becoming 
involved in a quarrel, killed his adversary. He was obliged 
to leave Iceland, but dared not return to Norway on account 
of the ill-feeling there entertained for his family. Some ad- 
venturers had discovered a new land to the south-west. Eric 
sailed in that direction, and found a small island, in a strait, 
which he named Eric's Sund. Passing the winter here, he ex- 
plored the main-land, in the spring, and finding it covered with 
a dehghtful verdure, he named it Gronland, or Greenland. He 
soon returned to Iceland, where he succeeded in collecting a 
number of colonists, whom he estabhshed in the newly-dis- 
covered land. 

In 999, Leif, the son of Eric, repaired to Norway, where he 
succeeded in interesting the reigning monarch, Olaf Trygveson, 
in the fate of the colony. Olaf had recently been converted 
to Christianity ; and in his zeal for his new religion, he either 
forced or persuaded Leif to be baptized, and caused a mission- 
ary to accompany him on his return to Greenland. The holy 
father introduced his religion among the Norwegians, but met 
with no success in his attempts to convert the natives. The 
latter always cherished a hatred of the colonists ; and when, 
even after three centuries, the dreadful black plague, in 1848, 
had thinned their numbers, the natives became involved in a 
feud with the remainder, and totally exterminated them. Not 
a vestige remains of that colony, nor is it clearly ascertained in 
what part. of the coast it was located. 

Herjulf and his son Biarne were engaged in trading between 
Iceland and Norway, in which latter country they usually 
wintered. One season, their vessels being, as usual, divided 



12 VOYAGE OF BIARNE. 

for the greater convenience of traffic, Biarne did not find his 
father in Norway, but was informed that he had proceeded to 
the newly-discovered country of Greenland. Biarne had never 
visited that country ; but he steered westward for many days, 
until a strong north wind bore him considerably to the south. 
After a long voyage, he arrived in sight of a low woody coun- 
try, which, compared with the description he had received of 
the other, and from the route he had taken, could not, he was 
sure, be Greenland. Proceeding to the north-west, he arrived 
safely at Greenland, having seen an island at a distance during 
the voyage. He found his father established at the promon- 
tory, afterwards called Herjulfsnoes, opposite the south-west 
point of Iceland. In the following summer Biarne made another 
voyage to Norway, where he told his adventures to the jarl 
Eric, who reproached him for not landing on the strange coasts. 
Biarne returned to his father in Greenland, where much spe- 
culation concerning the newly-discovered lands had occupied 
the attention of the people. Leif, son of Eric Randa, a rest- 
less adventurer, was excited to emulate the fame his father had 
acquired by the discovery of Greenland. Having persuaded 
thirty-five mariners, as daring as himself, he purchased Biarne's 
ship, and requested his father to become the commander of 
the enterprise. The infirmity of his old age, which ren- 
dered him unable to bear the fatigues of a sea voyage, was 
assigned by Eric as a reason for his refusal. Leif, however, by 
his importunity, persuaded his father to embark, but as he was 
riding to the vessel, his horse stumbled, and Eric conceiving it 
to be an evil omen, absolutely refused to proceed. " I do not 
believe," said the old man, " that it is given to me to discover 
any more lands, and here will I abide." Eric returned to his 
house, and Leif set sail with his thirty-five companions, one 
of whom was a native of one of the south countries, named 
Tyrker (Diederich— Dirk), a German, who had long been at- 
tached to the family of Eric. Sailing in the direction named 
by Biarne, they came to what they supposed to be one of the 



VOYAGE OF LEIF. 13 

countries discovered by that mariner, the coast of which was a 
flat, stony land, and the back ground crowned with lofty 
mountains, covered with ice and snow. This country, which 
must have been Newfoundland or Labrador, they named Hellu- 
land. Sailing tow^ards the south, they soon came to another 
coast, also flat, covered with thick wood, and the shores of 
white sand, gradually sloping towards the sea. Here they cast 
anchor, and went on shore. They named the country, which 
was probably Nova Scotia, Markland, or the Country of the 
Wood, and pursued their voyage, with a north-east wind, for 
two days and nights, when they discovered a third land, the 
northern coast of which was sheltered by an island. Here 
they again landed, and found a country, not mountainous, but 
undulating and woody, and abounding with fruits and berries, 
delicious to the taste. From thence they re-embarked, and 
made sail to the west to seek a harbour, which they at last 
found at the mouth of a river, where they were swept, by the 
tide, into the lake from which the river issued. They cast 
anchor and pitched tents at this spot, and found the river and 
lake full of the largest salmon they had ever seen. Finding 
the cUmate very temperate, and the soil fruitful in pasturage, 
they determined to build huts, and pass the w^inter here. The 
days were nearer of an equal length than in Greenland or Ice- 
land, and when they were at the shortest, (December 21,) the 
sun rose at half-past seven, and set at half-past four o'clock. 
If this computation be correct, they must have been in the lati- 
tude of Boston. 

It happened one day, soon after their arrival, that Tyrker, 
the German, was missing, and as Leif set a great value upon 
him, on account of his skill in various arts, he made great 
search for him. When, at length, they discovered him, he 
began to inform them, in the Teutonic tongue, of some great 
discovery he had made. After much difficulty, they understood 
that he had found wild grapes a few miles from the shore. No 
doubt could exist concerning the nature of the fruit, as the 
2 



14 DISCOVERY OF GRAPES. 

German assured them that he was well acquainted with it. 
Leif, therefore, named the country Vinland, or Wine-Land 
The following spring they returned to Greenland. 

The next chief that visited Yinland was Thorwald, another 
son of Eric, the Red. Not being satisfied with the discoveries 
made by his brother, he obtained from him his ship, and with 
thirty companions set out on a new voyage of discovery. He 
proceeded to the coast, and wintered in the huts which Leif 
had erected. In the spring, he manned a large boat with part 
of his crew, and proceeded along the coast to the westward, 
which he found a pleasant country, well wooded, the shores 
consisting of banks of white sand, and a chain of islands, 
running along the coast, separated from each other by shallow 
inlets, but no trace of human inhabitants, except a cornshed of 
wood. After spending the summer in this excursion, they re- 
turned to their winter quarters. In the following summer, 
Thorwald sailed in his ship to examine the east and north, but 
was cast on shore by a storm, and the whole season was lost in 
repairing the vessel. Here he erected the keel of his ship, 
which was no longer fit for service, on a head-land, which he 
called, from that circumstance, Kigalarnes, and which was, in 
all probabihty. Cape Cod. He then pursued his voyage to the 
eastward until he came to a large inlet, where he cast anchor, 
attracted by the promising appearance of the country, which 
rose in high lands, covered with thick wood. Here the adven- 
turers disembarked ; and Thorwald declared, •" This is a goodly 
place, here will I take up my abode." Shortly afterwards, the 
adventurers descried, on the shore, three small batteaux, made 
of hides, under each of w^hich was a band of three Skroellings, 
or dv/arfs, which is the name given by the Northmen to the 
Esquimaux. 

A contest ensued, which resulted in the death of eight of the 
Skroellings, the ninth being fortunate enough to escape to the 
interior. He soon returned with a host of his countrymen, 
who immediately advanced to attack the adventurers. Thor- 



VOYAGE OF THORFINN. 15 

wald commanded his men to make a bulwark by setting up 
balks against the sides of the vessel. None of the crew were 
wounded, and the natives retired, after delivering a shower of 
arrows. Thorwald himself, however, received a mortal wound, 
and said to his companions, " I now advise you to prepare for 
your departure as soon as possible ; but me ye shall bring to 
the promontory, where I thought it good to dwell. It may 
be that it was a prophetic word which fell from my mouth, 
about abiding there for a season. There shall ye bury me, and 
plant a cross at my head, and another at my feet, and call the 
place Krossaness, in all coming time." The survivors passed 
the winter in Yinland, and in the spring returned to Greenland 
with the news of their discoveries, and of the melancholy fate 
of Thorwald. 

Eric left another son named Thorstein, who, with his wife 
Gudrida, and twenty-five companions, undertook the voyage, 
principally for the pious purpose of bringing home the body of 
his lamented brother. Their expedition was unsuccessful. Af- 
ter being beaten about by contrary winds the whole summer, 
they at last reached a part of the coast of Greenland, far 
distant from that at which the colony of the Northmen was 
established. Here Thorstein perished, and Gudrida returned 
home with his body. She soon after married a man of illus- 
trious birth and great wealth, named Thorfinn, who had come 
to Greenland from Iceland with two ships, one of which was 
commanded by himself, the other by Biarne Grimolfson and 
Thorhall Gamlason. Thorfinn was urged by his wife, and other 
members of the family, to undertake a voyage to the newly- 
discovered country. With sixty companions, some domestic 
animals, implements of husbandry, and an abundance of dried 
provisions, he proceeded to the coast where Thorwald had died. 
He was accompanied by his wife Gudrida, and five other wo- 
men. This was the first attempt to effect a permanent settle- 
ment in Yinland. He erected his tents, and surrounded them 
with a strong palisade to resist the assaults of the natives. 



16 VOYAGE OF GUDLEIF. 

They came in the spring, in great numbers, to offer peltries and 
other produce for such commodities as the strangers would 
spare. Above all, they desired arms, which Thorfinn would 
not permit to be sold. One of them, however, seized an axe, 
and ran off to show his prize to his companions. To try its 
virtues, he struck one that stood near him ; and the latter, to 
the horror of all present, fell dead at his feet. One of the 
natives, who, by his commanding air and manner seemed to be 
a chief, took the axe, and after examining it for some time 
v/ith great attention, threw it indignantly into the sea. 

After a residence of three years in Vinland, during which 
time he had a son born to him, and whom he named Snorre, 
Thorfinn returned to his native country, with specimens of the 
fruit and peltries he had collected. After making several voy- 
ages, he finished his days in Iceland, where he built a large 
mansion, and lived in great splendour. A part of Thorfinn's 
company still remained in Vinland, where they were afterwards 
joined by an expedition from the Greenland colony, led by two 
brothers, Helge and Finnboge. 

But the new settlers were unfortunately accompanied by a 
treacherous and wicked woman, Freydisa, daughter of Eric, the 
Red ; who, in a short time, excited a quarrel, which proved fatal 
to about thirty of the colonists. After this tragic occurrence, 
Freydisa returned to her paternal home in Greenland, where 
she lived and died the object of universal contempt and hatred. 

Towards the close of the reign of Olaf, the Saint, who died 
in 1030, Gudleif made a trading voyage from Iceland to Dub- 
lin. Returning along the western coast of Ireland, he met 
with heavy gales from the east and north, which drove him far 
into the ocean, towards the south-west. After many days, he 
saw land in that direction; and, approaching the shore, cast 
anchor in a convenient harbour. Here the natives, who were 
dark-coloured, approached them, made them prisoners, and car- 
ried them into the interior. Here they were met by a venera- 
ble chieftain, of a noble and commanding aspect, and fitir com- 



BIORN'S PRESENTS. 



17 




Biorn's Presents. 



plexion, who spoke Icelandic, and inquired after Snorre, Gode, 
and other individuals then living on the island. The natives 
were divided in opinion, whether they should put them to death 
or make them slaves. After some consultation, the white 
chieftain informed them that they were at liberty to depart, and 
advised them to make no delay, as the natives were cruel to 
strangers. He refused to tell his name ; but gave to Gudleif 
presents of a gold ring for Snorre's sister, Thurida, and a sword 
for her son. Gudleif returned to Iceland with these gifts, 
where it was conjectered that he was the famous Scald Biorn, 
who had been the lover of Thurida, and who had left Iceland 
in the year 998. 

No subsequent traces of the Norman colony, in America, are 
to be found until the year 1059, when an Irish or Saxon priest, 
named Jon, or John, went from Ireland to Vinland, to preach 
Christianity. He met, however, with a tragical end, — a proof, 
says Dunham, in his Scandinavian History, that if any of the 
original settlers had been Christians, they had reverted to idola- 
try. A bishop of Greenland afterwards, 1121, embarked for 
Vinland, where he hoped to spread the gospel ; but nothing 
further is known of his expedition, or the fate of the colony. 



18 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 

The authenticity of the Icelandic accounts of the discovery 
and settlement of Vinland were recognised in Denmark, says 
the learned author of the History of the Northmen,^ shortly 
after this period, by king Svend Estrithson, commonly called 
Sweno 11, in a conversation with Adam of Bremen. But no 
further mention of them is made in the national annals, and it 
may appear doubtful what degree of credit is due to the rela- 
tions of the Venetian navigators, the two brothers Zeni, who 
are said to have sailed, in the latter part of the fourteenth cen- 
tury, in the service of a Norman prince of the Orcades, to the 
coast of New England, Carolina, and even Mexico ; or, at 
least, to have collected authentic accounts of voyages as far 
west and south as these countries. The land discovered and 
peopled by the Norwegians, is called by Antonio Zeni, Estoto- 
land ; and he states, among other particulars, that the princes 
of the country still had in their possession Latin books, which 
they did not understand, and which were probably those left by 
the bishop Eric, during his mission. 

Supposing, continues Mr. Wheaton, these latter discoveries 
to be authentic, they could hardly have escaped the attention 
of Columbus, who had himself navigated in the Arabic seas, 
but whose mind dwelt with such intense fondness upon his 
favourite idea of finding a passage to the East Indies, across the 
western ocean, that he might have neglected these indications 
of the existence of another continent, in the direction pursued 
by the Venetian adventurers. At all events, there is not the 
slightest reason to believe that the illustrious Genoese was ac- 

* Wheaton's History of the Northmen, p. 16 — 31. It is to this able 
writer that we are indebted for many of the particulars of the above 
account of the discoveries of the Northmen. In addition to his able 
history, the work of S. A. Dunham, " The History of Denmark, Sweden 
and Norway ;" " The History of the Voyages and Discoveries made in 
the North," by J. Reinhold Foster ; The New York Review, Governor 
Everett in the North American Review, and the leading British Reviews 
have been consulted and occasionally quoted. 



COLUMBUS. 19 

quainted with the discovery of North America, by the Nor- 
mans, five centuries before his time; however well authenti- 
cated that fact now appears to be by the Icelandic records, to 
which we have referred. 

The colony established by them probably perished in the 
same manner with the ancient establishments in Greenland. 
Some faint traces of its existence may, perhaps, be found in the 
relations of the Jesuit missionaries, respecting a native tribe in 
the district of Gaspe, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, who 
are said to have attained a certain degree of civilization, to 
have worshipped the sun, and observed the position of the stars. 
Others revered the symbol of the cross, before the arrival of 
the French missionaries, which, according to their tradition, 
had been taught them by a venerable person, who cured, by this 
means, a terrible epidemic which raged among them. 

The discovery of America, by the Northmen, is not con- 
sidered as detracting, in the least, from the merit of Columbus's 
discovery, who cannot be supposed to have had any suspicion 
that the northern region, of which he might possibly have heard 
in Iceland, was identical with the Indies, which it was his grand 
object to reach. 

He was born in Genoa, about the year 1435. Little of his 
early history is known, except that, in his youth, he was sent to 
Pavia to prosecute his scholastic studies. There he was noted 
for rapid progress in geometry, astronomy, and cosmography ; 
but soon relinquished his studies and embarked in a naval career. 
During many succeeding years, he was engaged in long voy- 
ages, and became the most experienced navigator of his age. 
The trade with the East Indies had been chiefly carried on by 
land ; and it was the desire of Columbus to find a more direct 
route to India. He had early conceived the possibility of dis- 
covering a western passage, and his theory was supported by 
many interesting facts. Pieces of wood, nicely carved, had 
been found by navigators floating in the western waters, to- 
gether with canes and plants unknown to Europeans. The 



20 VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. 

bodies of men, of strange colour, and unusual appearance, were 
thrown upon the Azores. These facts strengthened his opinion, 
and he determined to seek a new passage, in a westerly direc- 
tion. For this purpose, he applied for means to fit out an ex- 
pedition, to King John II, of Portugal ; but his proposals to 
that monarch were rejected. He next applied to the sovereigns 
of Spain, and at first was not listened to. He was about 
leaving the country in disgust, when a messenger from Queen 
Isabella overtook him, and he returned to Seville. The arti- 
cles of agreement, by which Columbus was to undertake the 
voyage, were signed, and on the 12th of May, 1492, he pro- 
ceeded to Palos to prepare the armament. Three vessels only, 
of inconsiderable size, were allowed him, such as, at the present 
day, would be considered quite unfit for a voyage across the 
Atlantic. The whole cost of the expedition was twenty thou- 
sand dollars, and the number of persons engaged in it no more 
than one hundred and twenty. 

On the 3d of August, 1492, Columbus set sail from Palos, 
and directed his course to the Canary Islands. There he was 
delayed some time, in consequence of injury done to one of his 
vessels ; this having been repaired, he, on the 6th of Septem- 
ber, left the Canaries, and proceeded over unknown waters, in 
quest of a new region. On the second day, the fleet lost sight 
of land, and the crews now seem to have become aware of their 
real situation, and the boldness of the enterprise. They soon 
began to murmur ; but the admiral consoled them, and inspired 
them with fresh courage. He made daily observations on the 
sun, and for the first time, observed the variation of the needle. 
This phenomenon caused alarm to the crews, which Columbus 
removed by a plausible theory, of his own invention. On the 
15th, they were three hundred leagues distant from the Canary 
Islands, having had, since their departure, a brisk east wind. 
In consequence of this wind, the seamen supposed it impossible 
for them ever to return to their own country ; but their hopes 
were revived by the appearance of birds, which never departed 



INDICATIONS OF LAND. 21 

far from land, and the sea appeared covered with plants ; these 
facts seemed to convince the men that land was not far distant. 
After this period, there were many signs of land, which another 
day were dispelled. Multitudes of birds were seen flying 
about, giving fresh hopes to the murmuring seamen. Colum- 
bus kept the secret of the distance they had come, from his 
men, for the crews were extremely uneasy at the length of the 
voyage, and became desirous of returning. They encountered 
many storms during the voyage, as w^ell as fearful calms, both 
of w^hich caused great alarm to the terrified crews. These 
calms, together with great quantities of sea-w^eed, retarded the 
progress of the vessels, and the seamen became restless and 
clamorous. Columbus used all his influence with them; he 
argued, expostulated, and made promises ; but these only ren- 
dered them more boisterous. A heavy swell of the sea, accom- 
panied by a gentle breeze, removed the fears which the previous 
dead calms had excited. 

On the 25th of September, a shout came from the Pinta, an- 
nouncing the approach to land ; this was occasioned by large 
clouds in the horizon, having, to the eager eyes of the seamen, 
the appearance of land in the distance. Similar appearances 
were afterwards witnessed, and when these symptoms vanished, 
the crews again desponded. Numerous flocks of birds were 
seen flying in particular directions ; this led the crews to sup- 
pose that land was near ; and, accordingly, they desired the 
admiral to sail for those shores, which they believed to exist in 
those directions. But the admiral still persisted in his w^esterly 
course, when again the spirit of revolt among the men, became 
more formidable than ever. Columbus, during the whole of 
their proceedings, remained calm and collected, and forgot not 
his station. A few days after, their hopes were once more re- 
vived by birds which flew close about the ships. 

On the 7th, land appeared visible from the Santa Maria, and 
the Nina fired many guns, and hoisted her flags. Again the 
care-worn mariners were doomed to a grievous disappointment. 



22 



LAND DISCOVERED. 




Landing of Columbus. 



for what they supposed to be land, gradually disappeared, 
leaving them in absolute despair. On the 11th, however, the 
indications of land became more certain ; reeds were seen float- 
ing about ; trunks of trees, rudely carved, and branches of trees 
were taken up by the crew of the Nina. The sea was sound- 
ed, and bottom found ; the wind was changeable, and when 
night came, Columbus gave orders for a strict watch to be kept. 
About 10 o'clock in the evening, while Columbus was seated 
on the poop of his vessel, he thought he saw through the gloom 
ahead, a light, which appeared to move from place to place. 
Still doubting the evidence of his own senses, he called Pedro 
Gutierrez, and afterwards, Roderigo Sanchez, who both con- 



VOYAGE OF THE CABOTS. 23 

firmed Columbus's vision. It was considered as evidence of 
land, and also, that it v^as inhabited. Early on the morning of 
the 12th, a gun fired from the Pinta, gave the joyful signal of 
land; and when the day broke, they beheld before them, a 
beautiful island, clothed in verdure. The vessels, at sunrise, 
steered towards it, and beheld the inhabitants running naked 
upon the strand. Columbus gave the signal to anchor; the 
boats were low^ered. The admiral, attired in the richest scarlet, 
entered his own boat, and was the first to tread upon the soil 
of the New World. Throwing himself upon the earth, he 
kissed it, as did his followers, and then returned thanks to God 
for the success of the enterprise. The island was taken pos- 
session of in the name of the Castilian sovereigns. 

The course of Columbus had led him to Guanahani, one of 
the eastern Bahamas, thence to Hispaniola ; and in his subse- 
quent researches, still farther towards the south and west. 

In 1497, John Cabot, and his son Sebastian, from Bristol, 
arrived at Newfoundland, or more probably Labrador ; but no 
intimation is afforded of his having sailed to any distance along 
the coast. In 1498, however, his son Sebastian, with two 
vessels, made a most extensive survey, beginning in the latitude 
of 56°, and terminating, it is said, in that of the Straits of 
Gibraltar, or about 36°. This must have brought him to the 
mouth of the Chesapeake, or even of Albemarle Sound ; and it 
is impossible not to regret that no details should be extant of 
this memorable voyage. He soon after sought the service of 
the Spanish monarch, and was created a member of the council 
of the Indies. In 1517, he is again found employed, though 
only as second to Sir Thomas Pert, in an expedition from Eng- 
land, by which the exploration of Hudson's Bay was certainly 
effected, though not actively followed up. Returning to Spain, 
he was promoted to the rank of chief pilot of that kingdom, 
and sailing under its flag, made the important discovery of the 
Rio de la Plata. Lastly, at an advanced age, being again in 
England, he was nominated grand pilot, and governor of the 



24 



SEBASTIAN CABOT. 



company of Merchant Adventurers, in which capacity he drew 
up instructions for Sir Hugh Willoughby's north-eastern expe- 
dition.* He appears to have ranked second to Columbus among 
the navigators of that age, superior in science, and rivalHng 
him in enterprise, gallantry, and honourable feeling. 

* Edinburgh Cabinet Library, No. IX., Ty tier's Northern Coasts of 
America, p. 26-32. A Memoir of Sebastian Cabot, 8vo., London 1836, 
pp. 25, 28, 32. 




Columbus. 




Ponce de Leon. 



CHAPTER II. 

SPAI^ISH EXPEDITIONS. 

^PAIN carried off the first and great prizes 
of transatlantic discovery. The wise or 
fortunate resolution of Isabella to pa- 
\ tronise Columbus, conveyed to her a do- 
^minion over empires of almost boundless 
extent, and rich in those treasures which 
mankind most eagerly covet. That navi- 
gator, on first viewing the American coast at Guanahan!, was 
not very distant from Florida ; but the hope of a passage to 
the East Indies, and other circumstances, induced him to steer 
in a south and south-western direction. All the great islands 
of the archipelago had been discovered, the coast of Terra 
3 ^ ^^^^ 




26 PONCE DE LEON. 

Firma examined, and Nunez de Balboa had obtained his cele- 
brated prospect of the Pacific, before the Spaniards even sus- 
pected the existence of that vast region which now forms the 
United States. It was brought into view by accidental and 
somewhat singular incidents. 

Juan Ponce de Leon, after distinguishing himself in the wars 
of Grenada, had embarked with Columbus in his second voyage. 
He then added greatly to his reputation, and being intrusted by 
Ovando, the governor, with a command in the eastern part of 
Hispaniola, had an opportunity of observing the rich aspect of 
the adjacent shores of Porto Rico. Having proposed to his 
superior officer to conquer it, he w^as allowed a body of troops 
to try his fortune. In this he completely succeeded, and ob- 
tained gold, not in the expected abundance, but to a considera- 
ble amount ; being accused, however, of those cruelties which 
were much too familliar to the Spanish adventurers. His 
claims as governor being also considered as conflicting with 
those of Columbus, he withdrew, and obtained in compensation, 
Bimini, one of the Bahamas which lay nearest to the continent. 

Here an object very different from conquest or plunder en- 
grossed the whole soul of the warlike veteran. In an age of 
comparative ignorance, and after witnessing so many w^onders, 
his mind was prepared to credit almost any extravagance. 
Ponce de Leon had somehow imbibed the full belief, that on 
one of those insular shores there existed a fountain endued 
with such miraculous virtue, that any man, however worn out 
with age, who should have once dipped himself in its waters, 
would rise restored to the full bloom and vigour of youth. In 
this delusive search, he beat about restlessly from shore to 
shore, landing at every point, and plunging into every stream, 
however shallow or muddy, in the vain hope of springing up 
in this blissful state of renovation. On the contrary, his eager 
and incessant activity under a burning sun, brought upon him, 
it is said, all the infirmities of a premature old age ; and ac- 
cordmg to Oviedo, instead of a second youth, he arrived at a 



DEATH OF PONCE DE LEON. 27 

second childhood, never after displaying his former energy of 
thought or action. 

Extraordinary exertions, even when misapplied, commonly 
lead to something. While the Spaniard was sailing in every 
direction after his miraculous fountain, he came unexpectedly, 
on the 27th March, 1512, in sight of an extensive country, 
hitherto unknown. Magnificent forests, intermingled with 
flowering shrubs, exhibited so gay an aspect, that he named it 
Florida. He landed on the 8th April, near the present site of 
St. Augustine ; and notwithstanding the dangers of navigation 
amid the violent currents produced by the gulf-stream running 
among the islands, he spent a considerable time in tracing its 
outline, and finally rounded the southern point. Thus, though 
still supposing it to be an island, he ascertained that it must be 
ooth large and important. 

This great discovery seems to have weaned the mind of the 
Spanish chief from his engrossing chimera. He repaired to 
Porto Rico, and thence to Spain, laid before the king the par- 
ticulars of the new country, and obtained permission to conquer 
and rule it under the pompous title of adelantado. A con- 
siderable time, however, was consumed in preparations; and 
while thus busied, he was obliged to engage in suppressing an 
insurrection among the Caribs. This contest was attended with 
leverses, by which he lost much of his reputation ; and nine 
years elapsed before he could conduct two ships to his promised 
dominion. While planning a site for a colony, he was surprised 
by a large body of Indians ; his men were completely routed, 
and himself severely wounded by an arrow. As these people 
were never able afterwards to cope in the field with Spanish 
troops, this disaster may lead us to suspect that he really had 
lost his former military talent. Having regained the ship, he 
sailed to Cuba, where he soon after died of his wound. 

The fate of Ponce de Leon for a considerable time dis- 
couraged all such adventurers. The coast was, however, visited 
by individual merchants ; and Diego Miruelo is said to have 



28 



FLORIDA. 




Ponce de Leon wounded. 



made repeated voyages from Cuba, obtaining, among other 
commodities, some gold, which confirmed the delusive ideas 
entertained of its wealth. Fernandez, Grijalva, and Gara}-, 
made surveys of some extent along the southern coast, but 
without reachino; Florida, or connecting; their discoveries with 
that of De Leon. The idea of island which the Spaniards had 
at first attached to the country, gave way before additional 
intelligence and the. assurances of the natives ; and it became 
evident that a vast expanse of land lay in this direction- They, 
accordingly, from thenceforth claimed as Florida the whole 
continent of North America, including even Quebec. But this 
pretension, being encountered by the rivalry of more active 
European nations, could not be enforced ; and, at no distant 
period, another sway and other names were established over 
nearly the whole of this vast range of territory. 



EXPEDITION OF GOMEZ. 29 

The knowledge, however, that such countries existed was 
turned to a cruel account by Spanish avidity. Slaves, to culti- 
vate the rich soil of the Antilles, became an early object of 
demand, and could be procured from these savage coasts ; hence 
a company was formed, and Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon was sent 
with two ships on this nefarious mission. He reached South 
Carolina, entered the river Combahee, which he named Jordan, 
and experienced the usual facihty of a stranger, in opening a 
friendly intercourse with the natives. After the usual inter- 
change of visits and friendship, they were easily lured in crowds 
on board the vessel ; when, in the height of their confidence, 
the treacherous Spaniards set sail, and stood for the West Indies. 
Yet the crime w^as nearly abortive ; — one of the ships sunk, and 
sickness thinned greatly the number of captives in the other. 

Another expedition, with a more legitimate design, was un- 
dertaken by Stephen Gomez, a Portuguese, who had been a 
companion of the great Magellan. Between the countries 
hitherto explored and Baccalaos, or the Codfish Island, as New- 
foundland was then termed, there extended a vast space, within 
which there might still exist the eagerly desired passage to 
Hindostan. Gomez, employed by the council of the Indies, 
appears by the meagre narratives extant to have sailed north- 
ward to the latitudes of 40^ and 41°. He consequently dis- 
covered New York, and part of New^ England, w^hich are 
designated in early Spanish maps as the " Land of Gomez." 
Finding the continuity of coast still unbroken, he gave up the 
pursuit, but endeavoured to compensate his failure by the mea- 
sure, not Only unauthorized, but expressly prohibited, of enslav- 
ing a number of the natives, — a step w^hich served only to 
increase the ridicule attached to the abortive issue of an expe- 
dition from which very sanguine hopes had been cherished. 

Meantime the attention of mankind was almost wholly en- 
grossed by the exploits of Cortez in Mexico, a region so vast 
that it might almost be called an empire, and abounding beyond 
any yet known in the precious metals. With reference to his 
3* 



80 EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ. 

success, a desire naturally arose to effect a similar achievement 
elsewhere. Florida was as extensive ; and no reason was yet 
known why it should not be equally rich. Pamphilo de Nar- 
vaez, the unfortunate rival of Cortez, first sought it as a theatre 
of glory and wealth. He had been employed by the governor 
of Cuba to seize and supersede that chief, whom he equalled in 
valour, but by no means in prudence and conduct. He was 
surprised, wounded, and completely defeated, upon which most 
of his troops w^ent over to his adversary. He possessed still, 
however, sufficient influence to obtain the means of trying his 
fortune on another field. He was invested in Spain with the 
title of adelantado of Florida, which included the functions of 
general and governor, giving authority at once to conquer and 
rule that territory. 

Narvaez, in June 1527, sailed from St. Lucar, w^ith an arma- 
ment of five vessels and 600 men. At Dominica, however, 140 
of the number were induced, by promises held out by the set- 
tlers, and probably by a dread of what they might encounter, 
to stop short. The commander then proceeded to complete his 
equipments at St. Jago de Cuba ; but, being there assailed by a 
tremendous hurricane, which shattered all and completely de- 
stroyed one of the vessels, his force was reduced to 400 men 
and eighty horses. 

On the 20th February, 1528, with his four remaining ships, 
he set sail, and after coasting along Cuba, where he suffered 
severely from a violent tempest, left the Havanna for Florida. 
He landed in April at a point difficult to ascertain, but probably 
near the Bay of Spiritu Santo, where was a village of some im- 
portance, with a house large enough to contain 300 persons. 
Narvaez, in the usual domineering manner of his countrymen, 
hoisted the emperor's standard, demanding to it implicit sub- 
mission. The natives used at once entreaties and threats to 
induce the Spaniards to depart ; and when these failed, they 
retreated into the interior. At another village there was found 
a number of ornamented chests for the interment of the dead, 



MARCH TO APPALACHEN. 3i 

which being fancied to imply something idolatrous, were, with 
their contents, reduced to ashes ; a proceeding which must have 
deeply imbittered the minds of the Indians. The view of some 
rich cloths, and particularly of golden ornaments, continued to 
feed the extravagant hopes of the invaders. 

It was now necessary to consider their course with care. 
The vessels were in an open roadstead ; and Miruelo, who had 
imdertaken to pilot them to a secure harbour, declared himself 
out of his reckoning, and quite ignorant where to steer. A Ivaro 
Nunez, the narrator, advised the commander to re-embark, and 
sail onwards till he should find a fertile country and a safe sta- 
tion to retreat on, if necessary. Narvaez, however, inspired by 
that rash valour which had already cost him so dear, and with 
the general concurrence of his men, determined to push at once 
into the interior ; disdainfully telling Alvaro, that since this 
step appeared to him so perilous, he might consult his own 
safety by taking charge of the fleet. The latter indignantly 
replied, that though he never hoped again to see the ships, he 
would rather share every extremity than desert his brave com- 
panions or allow his honour to be tarnished. 

On the 1st May, 1528, the Spaniards, 300 strong, with only 
forty horses — the rest having perished on shipboard — set forth 
to explore the depths of this vast continent. Appalachen, at a 
great distance from the shore, was pointed out as the spot 
where they would find in abundance the objects of their eager 
desire. Fifteen days were passed without seeing a habitation ; 
and their small stock of biscuit and pork being consumed, they 
could subsist only on the fruit of wild palm-trees. Oppressed 
by toil and exhaustion, they had to cross broad and rapid rivers, 
in the course of which Juan Velasquez, one of their boldest and 
bravest leaders, sunk with his horse and was drowned. Having 
come to a tribe hostile to Appalachen, they were encouraged 
and furnished with guides. The road, however, was in many 
places mountainous and marshy ; and the Indians, when ob- 
served, either fled, or met them with showers of arrows. At 



32 



EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ. 




Narvaez's March to Appalachen. 



length, after a fatiguing march of fifty-seven days, they arrived 
in view of a village, which was announced as the object of their 
search. It was hailed with rapture, as at once the end of so 
many toils, and the fulfilment of the most brilHant expectations. 

Alvaro w^as sent to take possession of the place, which he 
easily effected, finding only w^omen and children ; the men being 
probably on a hunting excursion. The latter soon returned, 
and not a little dissatisfied at seeing their abodes thus tenanted, 
discharged a volley of arrow^s, which merely killed a Spanish 
horse ; and, unable to withstand regular troops, they fell back, 
and returned two days after in a pacific guise, entreating the 
restoration of their families. This was granted ; but the seizure 
of a cacique, and continued exclusion from their homes, kept up 
the irritation. They made two successive attacks, and, though 
easily beaten off, retreated with little loss. 

Here the Spaniards soon discovered that the brilliant hopes 
which had lured them were completely delusive. Three expe- 
ditions showed the country beyond to be rugged and marshy, 



MARCH FROM APPALACHEN. 33 

with entangled forests and huge fallen trees encumbering every 
path. The Indians, though unable to face them in the field, 
could not be dislodged from the woods and bogs, whence they 
made desultory attacks, cutting off stragglers, and causing great 
scarcity of provisions. The cacique, still a prisoner, assured 
the invaders, that the farther north they proceeded, they would 
find the inhabitants fewer and the routes more difficult. In- 
quiring then w^hat lay to the south, they were informed that in 
nine days they would reach Aute, near the coast, which afforded 
maize in abundance. So comfortable did this prospect appear, 
that renouncing all their splendid hopes of gold and conquest, 
they determined to proceed to the better cultivated country. 

The journey proved more perilous than had been anticipated. 
The marshes were very deep ; and as they struggled through 
one, with the water up to their breasts, the whole body of 
Indians rushed from an ambush, and poured upon them clouds 
of arrows. These being very long, and discharged with ex- 
treme precision, caused many severe w^ounds, and, in some cases, 
immediate death. The assailants, tall, naked, and moving wath 
w'onderful swiftness, appeared almost supernatural beings. The 
Spaniards remained helpless marks for the deadly missiles, till 
extricated from the marsh, when they found it still difficult to 
keep the foe at a distance, and were finally relieved only by the 
enemy's weapons being exhausted. They then proceeded with- 
out farther obstacle to Aute, whence the inhabitants had fled ; 
but a valuable store of maize was found. Another day brought 
them to a river opening into a broad arm of the sea. This 
probably was the bay of Appalachicola. 

Their situation now involved not only the extinction of all 
their past hopes, but the most gloomy presages as to their future 
fate. Nearly a third of their number had perished ; and disease 
rapidly spreading, quite unfitted the survivors for the long and 
laborious march to the ships. After much consultation, there 
appeared no resource but to construct barks and sail along the 
coast ; and no task could well appear more hopeless for men. 



34 EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ. 

possessing neither knowledge, nor implements, nor materials of 
the art : it had this only recommendation, that everything else 
was utterly desperate. They called upon heaven for aid, and 
also upon necessity, the mother of invention. With wooden 
pipes and skins a pair of bellows was constructed, and a man 
somewhat skilled in smith-work converted their stirrups, spurs, 
and cross-bows into nails, saws, and hatchets. Their shirts, 
cut open and sewed together, were formed into sails ; the juice 
of a species of pine served for tar, the woolly part of the palm- 
tree for oakum, and its twisted fibres for rope. The work was 
prosecuted with such activity, that, between the 4th August 
and 20th September, five boats were prepared, into each of 
which forty or fifty persons could wuth difficulty be crowded. 
In this plight it behoved them to sail. 

After seven days, they somewhat improved their accommoda- 
tion, by seizing five Indian canoes ; but at the end of thirty 
days, without means of landing or refreshment, they felt severely 
the scarcity of food and water. They discovered and debarked 
at a village, where they were hospitably welcomed ; but a raid- 
night attack by hostile savages forced them to retreat with 
great loss. Another populous place was abandoned, owing to 
a quarrel with the inhabitants. Their situation became more 
and more critical ; the provisions drew near a close ; and the 
barks, shattered by severe gales, could scarcely be got forward. 
As Narvaez pushed before the rest, Alvaro called to him for 
orders ; but he replied, that the time was past for giving or re- 
ceiving instructions ; every man must save himself as he could. 
Having the best manned vessel, he was soon out of sight ; but 
this reckless selfishness availed him nothing, and they had 
reason to believe that he miserably perished. 

Alvaro sailed on with two of the remaining barks ; but the 
crews were so exhausted, that on the evening of the fourth day 
they fell down half-dead. Happily next morning the sound of 
breakers announced land, which they reached in a boat, and 
having cooked a little maize, felt their strength and spirits 



ALVARO. 35 

revive. Lopez d'Oviedo, the most vigorous, mounted a tree 
and reported that they were on a well cultivated island, almost 
resembling a Christian country. About a hundred natives soon 
surrounded them, and Alvaro, not having six men able to rise 
from the ground, could not attempt any violent proceedings. 
He sought to gain them by presents and courtesy, and met a 
most gracious return. After two or three days they brought a 
supply of provisions, with which the Spaniards prepared to 
resume their voyage. They began to launch the boat, a labo- 
rious task, in the course of which it was found necessary to strip 
off and throw their clothes into the bark. But after they were 
afloat, and had sailed about two bow-shots, a tremendous wave 
sunk it, with all the clothes, while they themselves were cast 
ashore, half-drowned and almost suffocated. Then, indeed, 
their previous condition, deemed so miserable, appeared almost 
felicity compared with the excess of their present calamity. 
They lay on the sand, naked, destitute, and hopeless ; and as 
they looked at each other's emaciated frames, in which every 
bone was conspicuous, each felt sympathy with the others, 
mingled with his own distress. The Indians came up, and by 
loud cries expressed the tenderest pity, when Alvaro proposed 
to his companions to ask aid from a people who seemed full of 
such humane and generous feelings. But several companions 
of Cortez, who had seen their captive countrymen sacrificed in 
solemn pomp to the Mexican god of war, solemnly adjured him 
rather to abide every extremity. Looking round, however, on 
his followers, he saw no alternative, but the inevitable necessity 
of otherwise perishing, while the kindness and pity that beamed 
in the strangers' looks, made it appear probable that they did 
not meditate any such dreadful purpose. He implored their 
aid, which was instantly and cordially granted. They led, or 
rather carried the sufferers to their village, kindled large fires, 
and hastily, in their slight manner, erected a wooden house or 
shed for their accommodation. All this care did not abate the 
panic of the Mexican adventurers, who viewed those measures 



36 ALVARO. 

only as prepatory to their immolation ; and the customary songs 
and dances of the Indians during the night seemed to mark the 
festal pomp of its celebration. The arrival of morning and of 
a good breakfast somewhat lessened their dread, which was en- 
tirely removed by a continuance of kindly treatment. They 
learned also that another of their barks had been shipwrecked 
at no great distance and the crew cast ashore, though the two 
parties could not aid each other. ' ■. 

This temporary calm did not endure long. A series of tem- 
pestuous weather, interrupting the fishery and other Indian 
occupations, caused a severe scarcity, which of course fell with 
peculiar hardship on the strangers ; and it was followed by a 
pestilential malady. Five Spaniards, in a detached station, 
urged by extreme want, adopted the dreadful resource of de- 
vouring each other, till only one remained because " there w^as 
nobody to eat him." This shocked the natives, and gave an 
unfavourable impression of their strange guests. Suspicions 
were also entertained that the plague was caused by their magic 
and malignant influence ; though, on its being represented that 
they themselves suffered as severely, this charge was with- 
drawn. The first feelings of kindness had however evapo- 
rated, and the strangers were tolerated only on condition of 
performing the most laborious tasks, such as digging for roots 
in marshes. They w^re, moreover, called upon to exercise the 
medical art, — a skill in which is usually ascribed by savages to 
visitants in any degree superior to their own condition. They 
represent themselves as positively disclaiming such powers, and 
as compelled to exert them only by the intimation, that other- 
wise their present scanty allotment of food would be with- 
drawn. Thus starved into doctors, they began to practise on 
the Indian model, by blowing upon the patient and uttering 
Spanish words, which had a mysterious sound in their ears. 
Their exertions, through the power of imagination, were at- 
tended with wonderful success, though the professional fees were 
too scanty to improve their forlorn state. Alvaro found more 



ALVARO. 37 

advantage in a petty traffic, exchanging shells and marine pro- 
ductions for red ochre, skins, flint, and cane ; and he had the 
advantage of being able to pass between hostile tribes who 
would not otherwise have held any communication. 

The Spaniards, during the period of famine and pestilence, 
had been reduced by various calamities from eighty to fifteen ; 
and in the course of the expedition, the Indians, urged by 
various motives, killed a number of the survivors. Four of 
the most vigorous undertook to find their way to Panuco, and 
thence bring aid to the others ; but not being aware of its vast 
distance, they completely failed to reach it. They learned, 
however, the fate of the adelantado. Having landed the greater 
part of his crew, he himself, remaining on shipboard, encoun- 
tered a tremendous gale, was driven fiir out to sea, and was 
never more heard of. Those left on shore perished by violence 
or famine, which had impelled many to the dreadful extremity 
of devouring each other ; and only one of the four returned 
with these doleful tidings. At length Alvaro persuaded three 
of his companions, Dorante, Castiglio, and Estevanico, to join 
him in that long journey to the westward, by which they hoped 
to reach the Spanish settlements in Mexico. They were pro- 
bably little aware of the great extent which they had to tra- 
verse ; yet when they pointed to the setting sun, the natives 
assured them that nations dwelt far in that direction, though 
many deep gulfs and broad rivers intervened. 

After forming their resolution, they found considerable diffi- 
culty in escaping from the Indians, who were unwilling to lose 
their services. The festival, however, occasioned by the col- 
lection of a fruit called tune, was celebrated with a reckless 
gayety, amid which they succeeded even in carrying off a good 
supply of provisions. Coming among unknown tribes, they 
hesitated not to recommend themselves by the medical practice 
in which they had been forcibly initiated ; being aided by that 
inystery and interest usually excited on the first view of stran- 
gers. Every new object, it is observed, was considered among 
4 



38 ALVARO. 

them as descended from heaven ; hence the wanderers readily 
obtained the reputation of children of the sun, endowed with 
superhuman powers. They gained even the credit of raising a 
man from the dead, — an achievement which has greatly shaken 
the reputation of Alvaro, though the details, if narrowly ex- 
amined, will not perhaps bear any proof of dehberate falsehood. 
Being called to a man who had been seized with sudden illness, 
he found him with his eyes closed, apparently dead, and be- 
lieved so by all the bystanders. Having as usual blown upon 
him and pronounced mystic invocations without effect, he was 
hurried off to others whose condition appeared more hopeful. 
He was much surprised to find, on returning frc^m his round, 
that the individual had revived, and regained his appetite. The 
whole appears quite accordant with the supposition of a swoon 
or temporary insensibility ; and the credulity of the spectators, 
both European and Indian, readily converted it into a prodigy. 
Even in Spain, where the affair excited a warm controversy, 
the most vehement opponent of Alvaro admits the event to be 
not at all improbable, provided it h?d been ascribed to a holy 
priest instead of a wicked soldier. An anonymous defender, 
who faintly repels this last appellation, argues that such pre- 
ternatural powers had been bestowed by Providence on wicked 
men, on devils, and even on beasts ; devoting a chapter to the 
"wonderful prodigies performed by brutes." Without going 
deeper into this mystery, we may consider it proved, that the 
pretension arose rather from the ignorance and love of the mar- 
vellous peculiar to that age, than from any intention to deceive ; 
and hence that Mr. Bancroft has gone too far in branding the 
whole narrative as disfigured by " the wildest fictions." We 
are not aware of any other statement bearing a supernatural or 
even very marvellous character ; and the whole appears to ac- 
cord tolerably well with what might be expected in such cir- 
cumstances. 

These powers, supposed to be thus beneficently exerted, 
gained for the Spaniards general favour. They went from 



ALVARO. 39 

nation to nation, everywhere preceded by this good character; 
and, either by accompanying the natives in their migrations, or 
by procuring guides for themselves, made their way gradually 
westward. They passed a large river, which we presume to 
be the Mississippi, then traversed a populous plain, thirty 
leagues broad ; after which they had to cross fifty leagues of a 
rugged and dreary tract, being the desert which intervenes be- 
tween the United States and the Mexican territory. Proceed- 
ing still in the same direction, instead of follow^ing the coast of 
the Mexican Gulf, they were involved in a route at once cir- 
cuitous and difficult. Having crossed another broad stream 
(the Rio del Norte), they found themselves among a range of 
steep and barren mountains, being those which extend over 
New Biscay, the modern province of Durango. Here they 
suffered severely, both from fatigue and want of food, regarding 
a place where maize might be found like an island in the ocean. 
Suddenly they came upon a native who wore round his neck a 
buckle and other trifles, evidently of Spanish manufacture. — 
Eagerly inquiring whence these w^ere obtained, they were in- 
formed it was from a new race, who came from heaven, rode 
on horses, and wore long beards. Animated by the hope of 
soon meeting their countrymen, the wanderers proceeded as 
rapidly as their weakness would permit. They soon received 
ample accounts of the Christians, though of the most painful 
nature, hearing them described as a band of ruffians, who, 
wherever they came, murdered, plundered, and carried oif the 
inhabitants as slaves. The people were fleeing in every direc- 
tion, or seeking refuge on the tops of high mountains, leaving 
the fine plains, to which the party had now come, desert and 
uncultivated. Alvaro withheld all mention of his relation to 
such a race; but, by promises of protection, prevailed on a 
large body of Indians to accompany him to their quarters. At 
length his party met four Spaniards on horseback, who stood 
some time in speechless astonishment at their strange attire, and 
at their being in company with natives. The latter again, on 



40 FERNANDO DE SOTO. 

being told that their mysterious companions were Christians, 
were not only amazed but utterly incredulous. Everything be- 
longing to the two, they said, were opposite ; the one came 
from the setting, the other from the rising sun ; the one were 
armed, clothed, and mounted, the other naked and on foot ; the 
one healed the sick, the other killed the healthy. 

Alvaro was conducted to Diego Alcaraz, the commandant in 
this district, but did not meet the reception he had expected. 
That chief, according to the atrocious system of his countrymen, 
wished to make slaves of the poor Indians who accompanied 
the discoverers. Alvaro vigorously and successfully opposed 
this iniquity ; but he was thereby involved in an altercation 
with the commander, who indulged his resentment by sending 
him forward over a mountainous and desolate tract. On reach- 
ing Cuhazzan, however, he was received in the kindest manner 
by the governor, Melchior Diaz, as w^ell as afterwards at Com- 
postella, by the Viceroy Nunez di Guzman. For some time he 
was unable either to wear clothes or to sleep, unless on the floor. 
At Mexico he was equally w^ell treated ; and, having recruited 
himself by a stay of two months, set sail, and arrived at Lisbon, 
on the 9th August, 1537. 

It could scarcely have been expected, after such a series of 
calamities, and the destruction of an entire expedition, that 
Florida would have borne any atttraction in Spanish eyes. 
Notwithstanding, when Ah aro reached home, he found a fresh 
and greater armament ready to sail ; new and memorable events 
having whetted, more than ever among that people, the appetite 
for gold and conquest. Peru, discovered, conquered, and its 
treasures grasped by a handful of adventurers, had given birth to 
the most brilliant ideas of American wealth. Fernando de Soto, 
originally owning nothing but courage and his sword, had fol- 
lowed the fortunes of Pizarro, and been a chief instrument in an- 
nexing to Spain that golden region. He accompanied the first 
embassy to Ataliualpa, commanding one of the three companies of 
horse which mr.de ':aptive that unfortunate prince ; and afterwards 



FERNANDO DE SOTO. 



41 




Fernando de Soto. 



proceeding to Cusco, he was active in the reduction of that 
imperial city. Having shared amply in Peruvian treasure, he 
returned to his country, laden with wealth, and with that dark 
but lofty fame which attended those memorable exploits. His 
reception was brilliant ; he obtained in marriage the daughter 
of the nobleman under whom he had first served, and appeared 
in pomp at the court of Charles V. Having accommodated that 
monarch with a liberal loan, he paved the way for obtaining almost 
any object on which he should set his heart. But he sued for 
a fatal gift. His present ample wealth and glory were prized 
only as a step to something higher ; having in Peru been second 
to Pizarro, he now sought a countr}^, the honour of conquering 
and ruling which might be wholly his own. He had +ixed his 
eyes on Florida. Charles was exceedingly ready to bestow a 
boon which cost him nothing, and might place another bright 
gem in his crow^n. Soto was created adelantado of that pro- 
vince, and allowed to select thirty leagues in it, to be erected 
into a marquisate. Just as the agreement was concluded, 
Alvaro arrived with his doleful tale ; yet he is said to have 
4* 



42 FERNANDO DE SOTO. 

given favourable accounts of the country itself. There was 
even a negotiation for his accompanying the new commander ; 
but they did not agree upon terms, and he obtained a command 
on the Rio de la Plata. 

Soto, now gratified to his utmost wish, proceeded to embark 
his whole fortune in this grand expedition. As the report 
spread that he was setting forth to conquer another Peru, many 
enterprising youths made haste to offer their services ; and some, 
even selling their property, embarked it in the cause. He 
selected 950 men, most of whom were trained to arms, and of 
daring valour; a force which, small as it may appear, was 
superior in number and equipments to those which had subverted 
the Mexican and Peruvian empires. 

On the 6th April, 1538, Soto embarked his troops in ten 
vessels, and sailed for Cuba, which was even placed under his 
command, that he might draw from it every needful resource. 
There he spent a year in preparation, and Yasco Porcalho, a 
veteran, who, like himself, had gained by the sword an immense 
fortune, and was living in splendid retirement, was so dehghted 
with the noble appointment and bold spirit of the expedition, 
that he joined it with a train of followers and large supplies. 
He was created Heutenant-general. 

On the 18th May, 1539, the adelantado sailed with nine 
vessels from the Havana ; on the 25th, he saw the coast of 
Florida ; and, on the 30th, landed in the bay of Spiritu Santo, 
which appears to be not very far from the point chosen by 
Narvaez. A great display was made of religious zeal ; twelve 
priests accompanied the adventurers, and provision was made 
for celebrating, in their utmost pomp, the various Catholic cere- 
monies. Unfortunately, Soto had not duly weighed the golden 
text, " I will have mercy and not sacrifice ;" yet he appears to 
have gone with intentions somewhat more humane than usual, 
determining to abstain from every outrage against the natives. 
But the rooted habits of ferocity and recklessness of Indian life 
and suflfering could not easily be repressed : these are indicated 



FERNANDO DE SOTO. 43 

even by the provision of chains for securing the captives, and 
of bloodhounds for hunting down the more refractory. To 
obviate the scarcity of provisions, so severe upon the former 
expedition, he carried with him a great number of hogs, which 
everywhere found food in those immense forests. 

It seems an unaccountable circumstance, that he should have 
chosen nearly the same track which his predecessor had tra- 
versed without discovering any of the mineral treasures in view. 
The sufferings formerly inflicted on the inhabitants had excited 
against the Spanish name an embittered enmity, which at once 
baffled all his good intentions, and produced a cruel retaUation. 
In the outset, he had the good fortune to obtain the services of 
a countryman and guide. Of four individuals, belonging to a 
ship sent in search of the late armament, three had been put to 
death with torture by a neighbouring cacique. Ortiz, the 
fourth, was doomed to follow, but that mercy which adorns the 
female character, even in savage life, interposed in his behalf. 
The daughter of the chief first gained his life, and then, on 
that boon being revoked, enabled him to escape to a neighbour- 
ing prince, where she could secure for him a favourable re- 
ception. 

Soto began his dealings with Hirriga, one of the native rulers, 
to whom, through the medium of some friends, he tendered an 
amicable visit. That prince, whom the proceedings of the 
former expedition had inspired with the deepest enmity, replied, 
that the heads of the Spaniards severed from their bodies would 
be most welcome ; but in no other shape would he allow their 
entrance into his dominions. Having ventured an attack, and 
being repulsed by Porcalho, he abandoned his capital, and 
sought refuge among woods and marshes. The victor attempted 
to track him thither, but sunk so deep in mud, that he could 
with difficulty be dragged out alive, and was obliged to retreat. 
The old man then burst into the most violent ill humour, and 
was heard muttering to himself, — Hirrihigua — Urribaracuxi, — 
declaring his abhorrence of a land the very names of which his 



44 FERNANDO BE SOTO. 

organs could scarcely utter. He finally resolved, in spite of the 
urgency of the adelantado, to return to Cuba, leaving a force 
under his nephew, which however was found very difficult to 
manage. 

The Spanish general now proceeded into the territories of 
Urribaracuxi and Acuera, where he met a similar reception ; 
the chiefs and people fleeing into deep forests, where he sought 
in vain to follow them. He endeavoured, but with little suc- 
cess, to soften their enmity by sending back the captives loaded 
with presents. Unfortunately he considered himself bound as 
a loyal subject to open, in all cases, his intercourse with a de- 
mand of homage to the emperor ; which those free and proud 
chieftains, not without reason, treated as insolent and absurd. 
Although unable to meet the invaders in the field, they hovered 
round, and not a Spaniard could stir three hundred yards from 
the camp without being killed or wounded. Had Florida, like 
Mexico, been under one great government, Soto, with his brave 
band, would have beaten the army, entered the capital, and 
been master of the country. But he struggled helplessly against 
a multitude of fierce petty tribes, whom even now the whole 
force of the United States has proved unable to put down. — 
They offered no point at which a blow could be struck, and 
never left him master of more than the spot on which his army 
stood. 

He continued, however, to advance, and at length came to 
the fertile district of Acah, where the troops with satisfac- 
tion felt the ground firm beneath their feet. The prince too, 
after some delay, met them, tendered his submission, and made 
the most flattering professions. But when the Spaniards, who 
were justly suspicious of this extreme cordiality, were involved 
in the difficulties of passing a large stream, some hundred sa- 
vages started from among the bushes, and poured in clouds of 
arrows, using the most opprobrious epithets. The attack was 
repelled, and the passage effected, with the loss only of a 
favourite dog. The prince made solemn protestations of inno- 



FERNANDO DE SOTO. 45 

cence, in which Soto placed very Uttle confidence ; but follow- 
ing still his conciliatory system, he merely desired the youth to 
take his departure. 

More memorable events distinguished their march through 
the country of Vitachuco, which was governed by a prince of 
the same name. That chief prepared to resist them with the 
most determined hostility, treating with utter derision the asser- 
tion of some, that they were children of the sun and of the 
moon, endued with supernatural powers. He announced to 
them in hyperbolical terms, that he would command the earth 
to open and swallow them up ; that he would poison the plants, 
the rivers, and the very air. On their approach, however, he 
learned enough to convince him that open resistance would be 
vain, and therefore resolved to follow an opposite course, em- 
ploying those stratagems in which the fiercest savages have 
never been w^anting. He went courteously to meet the Spanish 
general, apologized for his former conduct as prompted by false 
impressions, and proffered submission and service. Soto was 
gained over, and, being led to the capital, was treated in the 
most distinguished manner. The cacique summoned his war- 
riors from every quarter, as if to honour this illustrious guest. 
A day being appointed, w^hen both nations were to muster in 
warlike array, the chiefs were secretly instructed, on a given 
signal, to attack and at one blow exterminate this detested race. 
Through Ortiz, however, intelligence of the plot was received, 
and the Spaniards were armed and prepared for the onset. — 
Just when it was about to begin, a party of them surrounded 
and seized the cacique. Yet the savage host, undismayed, 
rushed on with loud shouts ; and Soto having rashly galloped 
.iito the crowd, his gallant steed, which had often borne him to 
victory, fell, pierced by eight arrows. The rider w^as in im- 
minent danger ; but his brave cavalry soon rescued him, and 
dispersed the loose infantry of the Indians. A chosen band, 
the flower of their warriors, plunged into a large pond, where 
they kept themselves afloat by swimming, and, though the in- 



4fe 



FERNANDO DE SOTO. 



vaders surrounded it six deep, refused to surrender. They 
hoped to escape during the night; but a strict watch being 
kept, in the morning they were half dead with cold and fatigue. 
They still held out, and some who were induced to approach 
the shore hastily drew back. A few^ having at length landed, 
and being well received, the whole by mid-day had surrendered, 
except seven, whom certain good swimmers seized by the hair 
and pulled on shore. The Spaniards admired their fortitude, 
and by general consent a pardon was bestowed. Vitachuco 
himself was told, that, however disgraceful his conduct had 
been, it would be buried in oblivion ; and he was even admitted 
to the table of the adelantado. 

Soto, having thus attempted to subdue the enmity of the 
natives by conciliation, ought to have followed out his plan 
steadily and consistently. Unluckily it struck him, that some 
penalty imposed on these proud Indians might deter others from 
following such an example ; and he adopted one which appears 
to have been the most injudicious possible. The warriors saved 
from the pond were distributed among this people to be em- 
ployed as cooks and sculhons, and to perform all other menial 
offices. These lofty spirits, who disdained to execute any daily 
task even for themselves, considered this as the last possible in- 
dignity. Though the Spanish general intended, it is said, to 
set them free at his departure, this purpose does not seem to 
have been disclosed, so that they appeared doomed to hopeless 
bondage. Every obligation was considered as cancelled, and 
the fiercest desire of vengeance was again inspired. This feel- 
ing was fully shared by Vitachuco, to whom it appeared, that 
if each Indian should kill his master, their oppressors might be 
at once extirpated. The natives, though disarmed, being at 
large, and in close and frequent contact with the enemy, their 
chief appointed a signal at which they were all to start up and 
begin the attack. At three, one afternoon, while seated at 
table with the general, he uttered a tremendous shout, cracking 
his bones in a peculiar manner, well understood by his followers 



FERNANDO DE SOTO. 47 

then, grasping Soto by the arm, he struck him such a blow that 
the latter fell senseless to the ground, the blood gushing from 
his mouth and nostrils. He had raised his hand to deal another, 
which would have closed the career of the adelantado ; but his 
officers instantly started up, and by twelve successive wounds 
laid the cacique lifeless on the floor. The Indians meantime, 
according to their instructions, were brandishing spits, pots, 
chairs, everything with which a wound could be inflicted. — 
Several of the Europeans were killed, and many received severe 
hurts. As soon, however, as they had recovered from their 
surprise, they were a complete overmatch for their undisciplined 
assailants, almost all of whom miserably perished. 

As soon as their wounds were cured, the Spaniards left this 
fatal spot and marched towards Appalachen. The Indians, as 
might have been expected, carried on still the same harassing 
hostility, abandoning their habitations, fleeing into the most in- 
accessible spots, and leaving nothing on which a conqueror 
could lay hold. Their imbittered feelings were not softened by 
"the practice of seizing all who could be overtaken, dragging 
them along with chains round their necks, and compelling them 
to perform the most degrading offices. 

In the approach to Appalachen it was reported to the Spanish 
chief that he would meet with more regular resistance than 
hitherto ; yet the place was deserted like all the others, and 
the cacique with his people had fled into the forest. As the 
usual harassing warfare then began, Soto hoped to terminate it 
by getting^ the prince into his power. He learned the remote 
spot where he was kept within an intrenchment of successive 
palisades esteemed quite impregnable ; but the invaders soon 
forced this barrier, and seized the sovereign, whose huge un- 
wieldy bulk rendered flight altogether impossible. Being re- 
ceived with respect and well treated, he could not now refuse 
to send orders that his people should cease hostilities. But 
though imbued with deep reverence, they disregarded mandates 
evidently compulsory, and eagerly sought means to rescue him. 



48 FERNANDO DE SOTO. 

He contrived to persuade the European commander, that, if 
allowed an interview with his chiefs, he would convince them 
of his sincerity, and make them embrace his offers. Soto felt 
all the delicacy of this arrangement ; yet seeing no other hope, 
he at length agreed. ^ The meeting was fixed at a forest six 
,miles from Appalachen,' whither the cacique was sent under a 
strong guard, wdth injunctions to keep strict watch over him. 
The place being reached in the evening, the interview was post- 
poned till next day ; and though during the night a circle was 
formed around his highness with every possible precaution, in 
the morning he was not to be found. The guards, in utter 
amazement and mortification, protested that his ponderous per- 
son could never have been removed by human means, but must 
have been wafted through the air by those mighty magicians, 
of whose potency the natives constantly boasted. Soto could 
not but suspect that the god of slumber, weighing heavily on 
their eyelids, had been the real agent ; but as the affair was 
past remedy, he abstained from investigation. The Indians, 
however, got their monarch, antl carried him off in triumph to 
a great distance, where it was impossible again to reach him. 

The adventurer found at Appalachen none of those precious 
metals which were the object of his almost exclusive inquiry. 
The country, however, appeared tolerably agreeable ; and the 
season being advanced, he resolved to establish his winter quar- 
ters there. Having learned that the sea was at no great dis- 
tance, he sent forward a detachment, who reached the place 
where the former party appear to have equipped their ill-fated 
expedition. He then despatched another to the bay of Spiritu 
Santo, wuth orders for the fleet to come round to the newly 
discovered spot. As it afforded no good shelter, Francisco Mal- 
donado was sent along the coast in search of a commodious har- 
bour. He returned with the report, that sixty leagues to the 
westward he had found one called Ochus or Achussi, probably in 
the Bay of Pensacola. The fleet was then ordered to make it 



tUiAjt- 



FERNANDO DE SOTO. 49 

their permanent station, either to secure retreat or as a channel 
for supplies. 

Soto, however, was by no means thinking of retreat, but was 
busied in eager inquiry after some rich and golden country. 
Among the captives at Appalachen were two individuals "who 
had travelled far to the north-west. They were shown gold, 
silver, and various precious stones, and asked if they had any- 
where met wuth these. They replied that they had seen in 
abundance a yellow and also a w^hite metal, which bore a great 
resemblance to those now exhibited. The pearls were also 
pointed out as objects which they had observed. The Spaniards, 
in the highest exultation, and imagining themselves to be 
approaching a Peru as rich as that conquered by Pizarro, with 
the utmost alacrity began their journey. 

In the end of March 1540, the adelantado departed from 
Appalachen. Four days after, he had to cross a broad river, 
apparently the Santillo, continually harrassed by the attacks of 
the natives, \vho succeeded at one place in surprising a detach- 
ment of seven, only one of w^hom recovered from his w^ounds. 

After leaving this hostile land, and intent only on reaching 
the more favoured country, he seems to have felt the necessity 
of adopting a more decided plan of conciliation. He dropped 
the demand of immediate submission to the emperor, which had 
excited such just and general indignation. At Achese the peo- 
ple still fled before him; but by showing kindness to a few 
prisoners, he opened by their means an intercourse with the 
cacique. Having professed intentions the most friendly, and 
asked only a passage through his territory, he met a courteous 
reception and the required aid. At Ocutc, the next capital, he 
experienced equal favour ; but the troops, unaccustomed to mea- 
ger diet, were grievously afflicted by the failure of animal food. 
A number of fine dogs, which the cacique had presented to the 
commander, were immediately killed, and devoured as a damty. 

They appear then to have passed the Alatamaha, and left 
what is now called Florida, which had been found, with few 



50 FERNANDO* DE SOTO. 

exceptions, a marshy tract of pine forest. They entered Geor- 
gia, called at that time Patofa, a comparatively fertile and 
populous region, where the cacique not only welcomed, but made 
the most active exertions to serve them. He advised them to 
go to Coosa, a productive country in the west ; but the guide 
pointed to Cafaciqui, in the opposite direction, as the depository 
of metallic wealth. The chief then gave them a large body of 
his subjects to carry their baggage, and forthwith took leave. 
They passed, with some difficulty, the Ogeechee, a large and 
broad river, across which the horses swam. The Indian bearers, 
being now in a hostile territory, began to attack the natives ; 
they were quite ignorant of the path ; and as they consumed the 
provisions, it became expedient to dismiss them. The route 
proved much longer than was indicated by the guide, against 
whom such rage was kindled, that, without doubt, he w^ould 
have been thrown to the dogs had not his services been still 
needed. The stock of maize, provided for a much shorter jour- 
ney, failed ; and their distress would have been extreme, had 
not their swine produced a numerous progeny, which, with 
herbs and roots, kept them alive. They came to a very large 
river (the Savannah), but had no means of crossing it. Parties 
were sent up and dow^n, for some time without success, till at 
length they came to a village, and had the satisfaction to learn 
that Cofaciqui was on the opposite bank, and, moreover, that 
the female sovereign who then ruled it, was prepared to welcome 
them. Ere long an ornamented barge was seen moving from the 
other side, containing a person of rank, who proved to be the 
princess. She enchanted them by her beauty, grace, and cour- 
tesy ; regretting the reigning scarcity, yet promising spacious ac- 
commodation and the necessary provisions. Having a triple row 
of pearls around her neck, she untied it, and bid Ortiz give it to 
the general ; then, at the latter's request, she modestly presented 
it with her own hand. Canoes were instantly supplied, in 
which the whole troop were instantly ferried over. 

As soon as the Spaniards were established at Cofaciqui, they 



FERNANDO DE SOTO. 51 

began their wonted inquiry after the yellow and the white metals, 
and the princess caused specimens to be immediately produced, 
— a sight which instantly dispelled all their brilliant hopes. 
The former appeared to them mere brass, with a gilded tint : 
yet it was probably an ore of gold, though so much alloyed that 
they had not skill to discover or probably to extract it ; for, by 
a strange omission, they appear to have had no persons ac- 
quainted with the science or practice of mining. As for the 
white metal, it crumbled in the hand like dried clay, being ap- 
parently mere portions of the pure quartz which generally ac- 
companies the gold formation of the Carolinas, and exhibits in 
many places a very brilhant whiteness. The pearls alone were 
considered as answering in some degree their lofty expectations, 
though the very profusion of them might have inspired scepti- 
cism. They were apparently nothing more than good speci- 
mens of those beautiful bivalves which abound in the interior 
rivers of the continent ; and though they have never acquired 
value as objects of commerce, are said to display a lustre rival- 
ling that of the pearl-oyster shell. 

Many of the Spaniards, pleased with their reception, and 
sick of their long wanderings, expressed a wish to settle here. 
The country appeared fitted to yield valuable produce, and well 
situated for trade, being near the bay of St. Helena, already 
visited by Vasquez d' Ay Hon. But Soto would listen to no 
such proposal. His hope was still to find a golden kingdom in 
this direction, or, if that should fail, the bay of Achussi, which 
he considered much more conveniently situated, ought to be 
their place of settlement, and the point whence further efforts 
might be made. 

The expedition, in the beginning of May, departed from Co- 
faciqui. The original good understanding with the natives had 
been interrupted, chiefly, it is admitted, through the violent pro- 
ceedings of the invaders themselves. Their leader, considering 
it impossible to march through the country without danger of 
attack, took the extreme step of seizing on his fair hostess, who 



52 FERNANDO DE SOTO. 

had received him so cordially, and carrying her with him as a 
prisoner. She was well treated, but obliged to issue orders 
that they should be supplied with whatever her territories 
afforded. She escaped, near the frontier. The narrators give 
very indistinct notices of the general's views ; but his line of 
march being directed towards the great auriferous range behind 
the Carolinas, he evidently went on information entitled to 
some degree of reliance. It led him, however, over branches 
of the Appalachians, through the Cherokee territory, a most 
rugged and barren tract, where the party were again exposed 
to severe famine. On reaching Chiaha, probably Echata, de- 
scribed as an island from being surrounded by numerous river- 
channels, some rest was taken, and inquiries made after a rich 
country. A friendly cacique there stated, that to the north 
" there was a melting of copper, and of another metal of the 
same colour, save that it was finer, and of a far more perfect 
colour." Two Spaniards with Indian guides, who were sent 
in search of it, returned after ten days with accounts which are 
very variously reported. According to the Portuguese authors, 
they had been led through a barren district, wholly unfit to 
support the army, and not yielding a single valuable commodity. 
Vega, on the contrary, assures his readers that they had ob- 
served mines of the yellow metal formerly seen elsewhere, and 
that from the disposition of the land, those of gold and silver 
might be discovered, if carefully sought for. As this account 
corresponds with the fact, it is probably correct ; yet Soto 
quitted, when on its very border, the only gold-field in the 
United States, and one which has since proved very considera- 
ble. He ought to have known that the precious metals are 
found chiefly in high and barren places ; but gold and a rich 
country were always combined in his ideas and inquiries. He 
had not, as already observed, brought any miners with him ; 
and his hope was to find, not naked rocks, out of which ore 
might be laboriously dug, but a splendid capital, like that of 
Montezuma or Atahualpa, filled with accumulated treasure. 



FERNANDO DE SOTO. 53 

which would at once enrich himself and his followers. Seeing 
no prospect of this, he determined to retreat southward, and 
seek supplies at his rendezvous in the Gulf of Mexico. 

He came first to Coosa, on the river so named, a country fer- 
tile and well cultivated, where he stopped to recruit his fol- 
lowers. Instead, however, of that conciliatory policy which 
had for some time succeeded so well, he adopted one precisely 
opposite. On entering any district, he made it his first object 
to gain possession of the cacique's person, detain him during 
their whole stay, and compel him to issue orders for every need- 
ful supply. The Coosa prince, who met him in the most cor- 
dial manner, was not exempted from this injurious treatment ; 
and his subjects, who made vain efforts to release their chief, 
saw him carried away as a captive to the extreme frontier. 

This system was next practised on the cacique of Tuscaloosa, 
a person of gigantic stature, fierce and proud, and ruling over 
extensive territories. He received the Spanish leaders with 
lofty courtesy, scarcely rising from his seat, and his indignation 
may be easily conceived when he found himself their prisoner. 
Yet seeing no immediate deliverance, he resolved to dissemble, 
pretended cheerfully to accompany the strangers, and studiously 
supplied their wants. One or two Europeans, indeed, myste- 
riously disappeared, but he gave plausible explanations, and 
carefully concealed his deep purpose of vengeance. At length 
they reached Mauvila (Mobile), a large town, strongly palisaded, 
with only eighty houses, but each containing numerous families. 
Soto was invited to enter, and believing that his men would be 
refreshed by sleeping under a roof, accepted the proffered kind- 
ness. He was entertained with dances, and every kind of 
gayety. Yet notice was conveyed to him that the houses were 
filled with armed warriors, collected from every quarter, that 
the children had been removed, and even the women, except 
those who, in this warlike region, were accounted " fit for bat- 
tle." The general merely directed his followers to be on their 
guard. The immediate commencement is variously related ; but 
5* 



54 BATTLE OF MAUVILA. 

in an instant Mauvila echoed with the yells of thousands, and 
clouds of arrows were poured upon the Spaniards. In this ex- 
igency Soto ordered his men to retreat, fighting, to the place 
without the city where they had left their horses, for it was 
only when mounted that they possessed a decided superiority. 
This movement was effected, though not without some being 
killed and many wounded, while the commander himself was 
repeatedly in danger. When they had mounted on horseback 
the natives could no longer face them ; but the palisade being 
still strong against a force without artillery, some time elapsed 
before a chosen body could force open the gate. Even then the 
Indians were found so strongly posted in the houses, that they 
could not be overcome except by the dreadful expedient of set- 
ting the place on fire. In a town entirely framed of reeds and 
branches, the effect was alike sudden and terrible ; both armies 
were involved in volumes of flame and smoke ; the natives rush- 
ing forth, fell a sacrifice either to the devouring element or the 
sword of the invader. Those who escaped into the fields en- 
deavoured to renew the battle, and even their females aided in 
this extremity ; but all was in vain, and at length the survivors 
sought safety in a general flight. 

Thus closed the dreadful battle of Mauvila. The loss on 
the part of the Indians has been stated at 11,000 ; but even 
2,500, the lowest estimate, is perhaps exaggerated. Of the 
Spaniards only eighteen were killed, but among these were Don 
Carlos and Diego de Soto, gallant youths and near relatives of 
the governor. Many others were severely wounded, and, be- 
sides, the whole party lost everything. The baggage had been 
conveyed by chained Indians, who were left outside one of the 
gates ; but the Mauvilans, in their first success, liberating them 
from their bonds, brought into the town all the effects, which 
perished in the subsequent conflagration. The discoverers had 
not even a change of clothes ; and were, besides, deprived of 
the instruments for celebrating the higher mysteries of their 
rehgion. 



FERNANDO DE SOTO. 55 

Soto learned at first, with satisfaction, that his port of Achussi 
was only thirty leagues distant, and occupied by Maldonado. 
On consideration, however, he felt extreme reluctance to exhibit 
his armament, and have the tidings conveyed to Spain of its 
miserable and reduced state. He was alarmed also to hear that 
his men were complaining of having had only hard fighting and 
scanty fare, with none of those ghttering treasures described 
in flattering terms by the conquerors of Peru. It was therefore 
in agitation among them, immediately on reaching the coast, to 
embark for Mexico, where better fortune might await them, — 
a purpose which it would have been difficult to prevent. The 
general could not wholly conceal from himself the unfavourable 
result of the expedition, in which he had embarked all his hopes 
and fortunes. But in this fallen state, to appear again in Spain, 
which he had quitted under such brilliant circumstances, was 
felt to be intolerable. He determined rather to plunge afresh 
into the depths of the American continent, in the hope of finding 
at length some object that might reward his adventure ; and he 
still possessed such a command over his followers as to carry 
them along with him in this desperate undertaking. 

He directed his march north-west into the valley of the Mis- 
sissippi, a region hitherto unexplored, — abounding toQ in natural 
wealth, destined amply to repay culture and industry, but de- 
void of the treasures which he sought. After hard marching 
and fighting, he came to Chicaga, the small capital of the war- 
like nation of the Chickasaws. As the cold was becoming 
severe, he made it his winter quarters, and attempted, with ap- 
parent success, to open a friendly communication with the cacique. 
Presents and visits were exchanged ; and in the spring of the 
year the intercourse seemed about to close amicably, when the 
general applied for two hundred natives to carry his baggage. 
The Indians, who had all along been watching an opportunity 
for surprise, were thus induced to hasten their operations. 
Taking advantage of a dark, stormy night, and favoured by the 
treachery or cowardice of the sentinels, they penetrated undis- 



56 DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 

covered into the Spanish cantonments, and set them on fire. 
The troops, at dead of night, were roused from slumber by the 
crackhng of the flames, the smoke, and the yells of the infuriated 
Chickasaws. They might have been entirely cut off, but that 
the horses, seized with terror, and rushing with wild neighings 
from place to place, were mistaken for mounted troops, and 
struck a panic into that undisciplined band, who fled without 
being pursued. The Spaniards, on rallying, found that only 
eleven had fallen ; but they had lost fifty horses, most of their 
hogs, and such clothes as had escaped the flames at Mauvila. 
Even their iron armour was damaged, and required some time 
for repair. 

No condition, certainly, could be esteemed more desolate than 
theirs now w^as. Yet they had still bold hearts and hands, 
which might have conquered a wealthy kingdom, had any such 
existed in that part of America. Soto accordingly pushed for- 
ward, till stopped by the broad stream of the Mississippi, called 
here Chucagua or the great river. It is accurately described 
as above a mile broad, rapid, muddy, extremely deep, and 
wdth many large trees floating down its channel. His passage 
being opposed, it was twenty days before he could construct 
barges and transport his men ; but after passing through Aquico, 
the towns of which had been abandoned, he came to a fertile 
territory named Casquin (the Kaskaskias Indians). Having 
experienced such dreadful losses from the hostility of the natives, 
he had again recourse to conciliation, and with his former suc- 
cess, being most cordially treated by the cacique and his people. 
Lured by deceptive reports of gold, he proceeded still northw^ard 
along the river to Copaha, a country equally populous, and 
where he was also well received. But as the cold w^as becoming 
severe, he merely sent a party northwards, who, on their return, 
stated that they had travelled seven days in that direction, and 
had found the country very barren and thinly inhabited. Far- 
ther north, the climate became intensely frigid, and the plains 
were covered with such vast herds of oxen (bisons) as rendered 



FERNANDO DE SOTO. 



57 




Scto discovering the Mississippi. 



cultivation impossible. Soto therefore determined to make Co- 
paha the hmit of his march northwards. American writers have 
been unable to fix its precise position, though it undoubtedly- 
formed part of the Missouri state ; and the description of the 
country, as well as of the fish caught in the river, establishes 
the accuracy of the narrative. The details as to a long range 
of fertile country, followed by a tract of desert, along the Mis- 
sissippi, seem to afford data which, on an attentive topographical 
survey, might indicate the place. 



58 DEATH OF SOTO. 

The Spanish commander, seeing no prospect of success in this 
direction, contented himself with asking for a fertile district ; 
and he was directed to one called Quigaute, which appears to 
be the rich tract on the river St. Francois. It was found to 
answer the description; but the intercourse with the natives 
was again hostile. Learning that there lay a mountainous 
region to the north-w^est, w^hich seems to be that at the head 
of the White River, he proceeded thither, in the vain hope that 
the rocks might contain gold. Disappointed once more, he bent 
his course southwards in search of a productive soil, which he 
found at Cayas, amid the hot and saline springs on the Upper 
Washita. Descending that river, he arrived at Autiamque 
(Utiangue), where he resolved to pass his fourth dreary winter. 
After this long and unfortunate march, and with his troops so 
miserably reduced, he determined at last upon the measure, 
from which his mind had so strongly revolted, of returning to 
the coast, and seeking reinforcements from Cuba or Mexico. 
He therefore hastily descended the Washita to its junction with 
the Red River, and the latter stream to its confluence with the 
Mississippi, where he found himself in the territory of Guachoya, 
filled with a brave and numerous population. His men being 
now reduced to fewer than five hundred, and his horses, which 
had formed his chief strength, to forty, he could no longer hope to 
vanquish in the field a brave though barbarous foe. He was 
obliged to employ art, to act on their superstitious impressions 
by stating that he was the child of the sun ; and avaihng him- 
self of their astonishment at seeing themselves in a mirror, pre- 
tended that in that glass he could see whatever they did at any 
distance, and thus detect any plot which might be formed 
against him. He was much concerned to learn that the sea was 
yet far oif, and the road thither greatly obstructed by streams 
and entangled woods. Amid these anxieties and distresses, he 
was seized with fever, which not being treated with due atten- 
tion, closed in a few days his earthly career. 

Soto did not merit quite so hard a destiny, though he was one 



Moscoso. 59 

of that bold bad race who, inflamed by the lust of gold, trampled 
on prostrate America. The unjust and tyrannical principles sanc- 
tioned by false views of loyalty and rehgion, which impelled to 
these enormities, were, in hun, tempered at once by much pru- 
dence and discretion, and also by more than the usual degree of 
humanity. Had not his aims been frustrated by the nature of 
the country and the fierce valour of the people, he might have 
founded a dominion on a better basis than any of the other 
Spanish conquerors. 

The troops, on the death of their commander, were struck 
with deep alarm. Moscoso, his successor, endeavoured to con- 
ceal the event from the Indians, pretending that the general had 
merely gone up on a visit to heaven, whence he would quickly 
return. Lest his grave should lead to other conclusions, the 
body was carried out, at midnight, into the centre of the great 
river, and, with a weight attached, sunk to the bottom. The 
cacique, however, politely intimated his consciousness of the 
true state of the case by presenting two handsome youths, in 
order that, their heads being cut off, they might serve the chief 
in the land of souls. Moscoso, declining this gift, endeavoured 
still to gain belief for his first statement, though probably with 
little success. The party, meanwhile, felt themselves seriously 
called upon to consider their future plans. To reach a Spanish 
settlement by water, without vessels, pilots, or charts, appearing 
quite desperate, they determined rather to attempt a march to 
Mexico, not without a faint hope of discovering some golden 
region which might compensate all their toils. They pushed, 
accordingly, about three hundred miles westward, when, after 
passing a great river, the Colorado de Texas, or the Rio del 
Norte, the country became almost a desert, and they could not 
make themselves understood by the inhabitants. They gave up 
all hope, and determined, at whatever cost, to return and descend 
the Mississippi. On regaining its banks, they had, like Nar- 
vaez's party, to perform the tedious task of constructing seven 
brigantines. But they fortunately had among their number a 



60 CANCELLO. 

sawyer, four or five carpenters, a calker, and a cooper, and 
these instructed the rest. The jealousy of the Indians, however, 
led to a confederacy, which might have been fatal, had it 
not been disclosed by the female captives. The rising of the 
river enabled them to avoid the danger by immediately setting 
sail; though a numerous fleet of canoes pursued, cut off a 
detachment, and harassed them during a great part of the voy- 
age. In fifty-two days they arrived, reduced to the number of 
311, at the port of Panuco, in Mexico, where they were kindly 
received both by the governor and people. They had marched, 
in four years, upwards of five thousand miles, through a savage 
and hostile region. They had achieved nothing; not having 
left even a vestige of their route, except the track of blood by 
which it had been too often stained. 

The Spaniards, when refreshed from their toils, began to look 
around them ; and seeing themselves on a desolate shore, and in 
a state of utter destitution, bitterly lamented that they had quit- 
ted fertile regions, where, independently of gold, they might 
have established a flourishing colony. Schemes of returning 
were even formed, but which, from w^ant of union, were ulti- 
mately relinquished.* 

These dreadful reverses damped the zeal of Spain to conquer 
or colonize Florida ; but Cancello, a Dominican missionary, w^ho 
undertook to visit the country with a view to conversion, 
received ample encouragement from the government. The 
sinister impression, how^ever, attached to his nation, being 
extended to every individual of it, he and his companions w^re 
put to death. The Spaniards, notwithstanding, continued to 
claim Florida, and even the w^hole extent of North America ; 
yet there was not a spot in that vast territory on which one of 
them dared to set his foot. 

* Bancroft, vol. i.p. 67, quoted by Murray in his "United States of 
America," from which this account of the Spanish expeditions is drawn. 




Verazzano. 




CHAPTER III. 

FRENCH EXPEDITIONS. 

RANCIS I., a powerful monarch, ambitious of 
every kind of glory, was animated also with eager 
rivalry of Charles V., who derived much lustre 
X from his possessions in the new world. He there- 
t>A^ fore ardently desired to follow successfully in the 
same career ; and wuth this view he supplied to Giovanni Veraz- 
zano, a noble Florentine, four vessels destined for America. 
This chief, after being driven back by a storm, was refitted, and 
engaged in some successful naval operations on the Spanish 
coast ; and it was then determined, that in the Dolphin, wuth 
fifty men, provisioned for eight months, he should prosecute his 
original design of discovery. After encountering a severe 
tempest, he came, in the middle of March, upon a coast which 
Mr. Bancroft, with great probability, supposes to be that of 
6 (Si^ 



62 VERAZZANO. 

North Carolina : and having sailed fifty leagues southward in 
search of a port without success, he turned again towards the 
north with the same object. He was once more disappointed 
as to a harbour ; but seeing a fine populous country, he landed 
in boats, and held some friendly intercourse with the natives. 
He next proceeded in an eastern direction along a low coast, 
where even a boat could not touch ; but a sailor swam ashore, 
and though alarmed by some strange gestures, found the natives 
kind. A change of course to the northward marks the round- 
ing of Cape Hatteras ; and a run of fifty leagues brought him 
to a fertile region, covered with rich verdure and luxuriant 
forests. This was Virginia, near the mouth of the Chesa- 
peake, though no mention is made of that great inlet. A sail 
of one hundred leagues in the same direction led to a spacious 
bay receiving a noble river, evidently the Hudson. They as- 
cended it a short way in boats, and were delighted with its banks. 
The coast then trended eastward; and after following it fifty 
leagues, they reached an island of pleasing aspect, which being 
of a triangular form, and about the size of Rhodes, clearly ap- 
pears to be that named Martha's Vineyard. The weather 
prevented his landing ; and, fifteen leagues farther he found a 
very convenient port, where he had again much satisfaction in 
communicating with the people. Though the latitude of 41 
degrees 40 minutes be about half of a degree too low, it seems 
impossible not to reach Boston. He then made a course of one 
hundred and fifty leagues along a country of similar character, 
but somewhat more elevated, without landing at any point. 
Another stretch of fifty leagues, first west and then north, 
brought him to a bolder territory. Nova Scotia, covered with 
dense forests of fir, pine and other trees of a northern climate. 
The inhabitants were fiercer, and carried on trade only under 
jealous precautions. In a subsequent run of the same extent 
he discovered thirty small islands, with narrow channels run- 
ning between them, being such as are known to stud the north- 
ern coast of that country and the adjacent one of Cape Breton. 



VERAZZANO. 63 

Lastly, by sailing one hundred and fifty leagues farther, he 
reached in 50 degrees the lands discovered by the Britons, New- 
foundland or Labrador. His stock of victuals being spent, he 
here took in water, and returned to France. He sent to the 
king from Dieppe a narrative of this voyage. Ramusio heard 
from different quarters that he had submitted to that monarch 
the plan of a colony ; and the general belief is, that he was 
again employed by him. Mr. Biddle, indeed, urges the impro- 
bability that amid the disasters caused by the battle of Pavia in 
February 1525, Francis could engage in any such undertaking. 
Down, however, to that fatal day, his career was triumphant ; 
and there was ample time to have authorized another expedi- 
tion, though there is a total absence of any positive notice on 
the subject. Ramusio, without mentioning either place or date, 
states that in his last voyage, having landed with some com- 
panions, he was killed by the savages in presence of his crew 
still on shipboard. In a modern narrative, which, from its full 
genealogical details, appears to have been furnished by his rela- 
tives, Coronelli, an eminent Venetian hydrographer, is quoted, 
expressing his belief that the catastrophe took place off Cape 
Breton, in 1525. In the portrait from which our sketch is 
taken, the inscription positively bears "Dead in 1525." It 
was engraved in 1767 after a picture by Zocchi, in the posses- 
sion of the family, whose opinion is thus decidedly expressed. 
Yet Tiraboschi has drawn attention to a letter of Annibal Caro, 
apparently directed to him when living at Florence in 1537. 
There seems a mystery round its fate, which we can scarcely 
now hope to unravel. His descendants probably still continue 
to enjoy distinction at Florence, having, in 1770, an estate in 
its vicinity named Verazzano. There is also a portrait of him 
in the Medicean gallery. 

Claims so extensive and so feebly supported as those of Spain 
to North America were not likely to remain long undisputed. 
Other European nations were then rapidly advancing in mari- 
time skill and enterprise, among whom for some time France 



64 



COLIGNI. 




Coligni. 



took the lead. The defeat and captivity of the king, followed 
by a humiliating peace, naturally diverted his mind from distant 
enterprises, especially such as would have been considered hos- 
tile by his rival Charles. The troubles which agitated the 
country after his death were also unfavourable to such under- 
takings; nevertheless, the spirit of adventure was cherished 
among the people, especially the Huguenots, an industrious 
class, who almost alone raised her commerce and manufactures 
to a flourishing condition. Rouen, Dieppe, and above all, 
Rochelle, ranked with the greatest havens in Europe. Admiral 
Coligni, one of the leaders in that eventful time, formed the 
scheme of a transatlantic settlement, which might at once ex- 
tend the resources of this country, and afford an asylum to his 
Protestant brethern. While the civil war was yet only impend- 
ing, he enjoyed intervals of favour at court, which enabled him 
to obtain permission, first to establish one in Brazil ; and when 



RIBAULT. 65 

that proved unfortunate, to plant another m Florida. He fitted 
out two vessels in lo62, and placed them under John Ribault 
of Dieppe, a seaman of experience. The object was to reach 
the mouth of the river called by Ayllon the Jordan, now Com- 
bahee, in South Carolina ; but, steering in too low a latitude, 
the discoverers reached the St. John, near St. Augustine, in 
Florida Proper. They were pleased with the aspect of the 
country; and, sailing northward to their destination, gave to 
successive rivers the names of the Seine, the Somme, and the 
Loire, which have not adhered to them. On reaching Port 
Royal, they were so delighted with its noble harbour, the mag- 
nificent trees and beautiful shrubs, that they determined to 
choose it for the site of their colony. Having seen a fort 
erected, and the settlement in a promising state, Ribault left 
twenty-six men, and returned to France for reinforcements and 
supplies. This seems an imprudent step. The establishment, 
in its unsettled state, stood in peculiar need of being well 
governed ; \vhereas it fell into the hands of Albert, a rash and 
tyrannical oflScer, who, finding it difficult to maintain authority, 
where all thought themselves nearly equal, enforced it in the 
most violent manner. He addressed them in opprobious lan- 
guage ; hanged one of them with his own hand, and threatened 
others with the same fate. At length they rose in mutiny, put 
him to death, and appointed a new commander, Nicolas Barre, 
who restored tranquillity. 

Ribault, meantime, in consequence of the breaking out of the 
civil war, was unable to make good his expectations and pro- 
mises. After long waiting for him, the colonists were seized 
with an extreme desire to return to their native country ; and, 
having no ship, they, like the companions of Narvaez and Mos- 
coso, resolved to build one for themselves. The country af- 
forded somew^hat better materials, and they constructed a brig- 
antine fit for the passage ; but in their impatience, they laid in 
a slender stock of provisions, which, during the delay of a 
tedious calm, was entirely consumed. The last extremities of 
6* 



66 LAUDONNIERE. 

famine were suffered ; and one had been actually sacrificed to 
preserve the rest, when an English vessel appeared, and received 
them on board. 

The project, though seemingly abandoned, was still cherished 
by Coligni ; and the assassination of the Duke of Guise having 
been followed by a peace, during which the court endeavoured 
to soothe the Huguenots, he obtained permission to attempt it on 
an enlarged scale. In 1564, he succeeded in fitting out three 
vessels, abundantly supplied, and gave the command to Rene 
Laudonniere, an able officer who had accompanied Ribault. 
Taking a circuitous course by the Canaries and the West In- 
dies, he made for Florida, which he chose to term New France ; 
and at Ribault's first station on the river St. John (named May 
from the month of its discovery), the party resolved to stop and 
settle. The fort of La CaroHna was erected, and expeditions 
sent up the river, where small quantities of gold and silver were 
seen ; reports being also received as to the mountainous country 
in the interior, where these metals abounded. The hopes thus 
kindled were quite illusory, and diverted attention from the solid 
labours of agriculture. Alarming symptoms of insubordination 
appeared ; many of the party, notwithstanding their religious 
profession, were of a reckless character, and had gone out with 
the most chimerical hopes of suddenly realizing a large fortune. 
Seeing no such prospect, they formed the criminal resolution of 
seeking it by piracy. They confined their commander, and ex- 
torted from him, by threats of immediate death, a commission to 
follow this unlawful vocation ; while, by rifling his stores, they 
obtained materials for its prosecution. After various fortune, 
they were successful in capturing a vessel, richly laden, and 
having the governor of Jamaica on board. Hoping for a large 
ransom, they sailed to the island, and unguardedly allowed him 
to send messengers to his wife ; through whom he conveyed a 
secret intimation, in consequence of which an armed force sur- 
rounded the pirates, captured the larger of their vessels, while 
the other escaped by cutting her cables. Those on board the 



MENENDEZ. 67 

latter being reduced to extremity from want of food, were 
obliged to return to the settlement, w^here Laudonniere con- 
demned four of the ringleaders to be executed. 

That chief meantime continued to make incursions to the in- 
terior, and entered into various transactions with the natives, in 
the vain hope of arriving at some region rich in gold and silver. 
Neglecting to establish themselves on the solid basis of agricul- 
ture, the settlers depended for food on the Indians, whose own 
stock was scanty. They were therefore obliged to undertake 
long journeys, without obtaining a full supply ; and the natives, 
seeing them thus straitened, raised the price, disdainfully telling 
them to eat their goods, if they did not choose to give them for 
grain and fish. Amid these sufferings, and no prospect of re- 
alizing their fond dreams of wealth, they were seized, as was 
usual, with the ardent desire of returning home, and shrunk not 
from the laborious task of constructing vessels for that purpose. 
Amid their painful labour, they were cheered by a visit from Sir 
John Hawkins, who gave them a liberal supply of provisions. 
They did not, however, intermit their task, and on the 28th 
August, 1565, were on the point of sailing, when several ships 
were descried approaching ; which proved to be a new expe- 
dition, under Ribault, sent to supersede Laudonniere, of whose 
severity complaints had been made. He brought a numerous 
reinforcement, with ample supplies, which induced the colonists 
to remain ; but they were soon exposed to a dreadful calamity. 

The desire of conquering Florida, which had never become 
extinct in Spain, now called forth a new adventurer in the per- 
son of Don Pedro Menendez, who, having served with distinc- 
tion, and accumulated wealth both in Holland and America, had 
there also learned the lessons of cruel bigotry. He becan:ie 
amenable to the sentence of a military tribunal, which, however, 
on account of previous reputation, was leniently executed ; and 
to retrieve his honour, he undertook to equip, at his own ex- 
pense, an expedition to Florida, of which he was appointed 
governor. While his preparations were in progress, Philip II., 



68 MENENDEZ. 

having received intelligence of the Huguenot settlement, pointed 
out to him, as a still more glorious task, that of rooting out the 
heretics from Spanish America ; and to enable him to accomphsh 
this object, three hundred troops were added to his armament. 
Menendez sailed from San Lucar with eleven ships and one 
thousand men ; and such was the enthusiasm kindled for this 
" holy war," that on his reaching the Canaries, the number 
had swelled to two thousand six hundred. Notwithstanding 
some severe losses by shipwreck, he reached the coast of 
Florida, where falling in with three French vessels, and being 
questioned as to his intentions, he replied, with a fiery zeal, un- 
tempered by prudence, that he was come to extirpate the Pro- 
testants out of the country. The French hereupon cut their 
cables, and regained the port with all speed ; but Menendez, 
having reconnoitred their position, and considering an immediate 
landing impracticable, repaired to the neighbouring river of St. 
Augustine. He there founded a settlement, considered by Mr. 
Bancroft the oldest town now in the United States, and forth- 
with prepared for hostile operations. 

Ribault, on learning the arrival of this formidable enemy, 
thought it most advisable to become the assailant without delay, 
before they could fortify their position. This conduct has been 
censured, but perhaps too much with reference to the fatal event. 
Leaving Laudonniere with eighty-five men in the fort, he sailed 
on the 8th September, and arrived on the 10th at the mouth 
of the St. Augustine ; but was there overtaken by a tremendous 
storm, which drove him far out to sea. Menendez, concluding 
that this expedition must have comprised the flower of the 
French troops, and that those left in the fort were few in num- 
ber, hastily formed the resolution to attack them. Selecting 
five hundred of his best men, he led them across a wild country, 
intersected by broad streams, sw^amps, and forests, encouraging 
them to proceed by an appeal to all the sentiments of honour 
and rehgion. On the fourth evening the place was descried, 
but the night was spent in the neighbourhood, amid a dreadful 



MENENDEZ SURPRISES THE FORT. 69 

tempest, which, while it inflicted severe sufliering, also lulled the 
enemy's suspicions. At daybreak the three gates of the fort 
were seen open, and only a single Frenchman outside, who was 
lured into the camp, and killed. Menendez then ordered his 
followers to rush forward, and enter before any discovery could 
be made. But a soldier, chancing to be on the rampart, gave 
the alarm ; though before Laudonniere could be roused, the 
enemy were in the fort, and had commenced an indiscriminate 
massacre. That chief, with several companions, leaped from 
the wall, ran into the woods, and, after wandering some time, 
found a little bark, in which, under severe want and imminent 
perils, they made their way to Bristol. Spanish writers assert, 
that after the slaughter had continued some time, an order was 
issued to spare the w^omen and children, and that, while two 
hundred perished, seventy were sated. 

Ribault meanwhile, after being driven out to sea, saw his 
vessels completely wrecked among the rocks in the Bahama 
Channel. He escaped on shore with nearly all his men ; but 
their condition was most deplorable, and in endeavouring to 
reach their settlement by a march of three hundred miles through 
a barren country, the most extreme hardships were endured. 
At length, on the ninth day, they beheld the river, and the fort 
on the opposite side ; but what w^as their dismay to see on the 
ramparts Spanish colours flying ! Their leader made a solemn 
pause before he could resolve to place any trust in men known 
to be imbued with the most ferocious bigotry. Seeing however 
no other hope, he sent two of the party to represent that their 
sovereigns were at peace ; that, agreeably to instructions, they 
had strictly avoided interfering with any of their settlements ; 
they asked only food, and a vessel to convey them home. 
Their reception is very differently reported. According to the 
French it was most kind, and ample pledges of safety were 
given. The Spaniards, on the contrary, allege that Menendez 
acquainted them with his object, and the bloody treatment he 
had given to their countrymen ; but added, that if they would 



70 MASSACRE OF THE HUGUENOTS. 

lay down their arms, and place themselves at his mercy, he 
would do with them whatever God in his grace might suggest. 
We cannot however believe that without some more positive 
pledge, Ribault would have agreed to surrender. Having de- 
livered their arms, his men were conveyed across the river by 
thirty at a time. They were dismayed to find themselves bound 
two and two together, with their hands behind their backs ; 
but this, they were assured, was only a temporary precaution. 
At length they were drawn up in front of the castle, when the 
Spanish chief with his sword drew a line round them on the 
sand, and on a signal given, the soldiers commenced the work 
of slaughter, with every excess of cruelty and indignity ; the 
military band playing the whole time, to drown the cries for 
mercy and the shrieks of the dying. Ribault, amid vain re- 
monstrances, was struck in the back and fell, covered with 
wounds. When the work of blood was finished, the assassins 
suspended to a tree a number of the mangled limbs, attaching 
the inscription, " JS'ot because they a7'e Frenchmen, but because 
they are heretics and enemies to God.'' 

This dismal tragedy, when announced in France, gave birth 
to a mingled sentiment of grief and rage, accompanied by a 
loud cry for vengeance. These feelings were the more deep 
among the Huguenots, from the suspicion that they were not 
shared by the sovereign Charles IX., who was closely united 
with Philip in relentless enmity to the Protestant name. Yet 
a remonstrance was presented from fifteen hundred widows and 
orphans, calling on him to avenge this dreadful deed, and vindi- 
cate the honour of this country. The king made only formal 
remonstrances, and accepted a superficial apology; but there 
was a spirit in the nation itself which, independently of his will, 
provided the means of punishment. 

Dominique de Gourgues was universally distinguished in that 
age as a daring warrior. He had fought successfully both 
against the Spaniards and the Turks, by the former of whom 
he had been held some time a prisoner, treated with the utmost 



u 



EXPEDITION OF DE GOURGUES. 71 

indignity, and compelled to work as a galley slave. On receiv- 
ing intelligence of the Floridan catastrophe, his own wrongs, 
together with those of his countrymen, took full possession of his 
mind ; and he devoted his whole energies to the work of ven- 
geance. By selling his little property, and borrowing from 
friends, he equipped three ships, with two hundred and thirty 
soldiers and sailors, mostly chosen adherents, who had often 
conquered along wath him. Carefully concealing his object, he 
obtained a license for the slave trade, and sailed on the 22d 
August, 1567 ; but on approaching the Cape de Verd islands, 
he changed his course, and stood across the Atlantic. It was 
not before reaching the western point of Cuba, that he unfolded 
to the whole party their dreadful destination. Some were 
disposed to shrink ; but, being persuaded by the rest, they at 
length joined in a unanimous consent. 

De Gourgues, in sailing along the coast of Florida, passed 
imprudently near to San Matheo, of which he was warned by 
his squadron, who had found themselves saluted as Spaniards ; 
whereupon he hastened to another river, fifteen leagues distant, 
and landed as secretly as possible. Finding the natives as usual 
imbued with deadly hostility towards the subjects of Philip, he 
engaged their co-operation ; and learning that the enemy had 
built two small forts, he made a rapid march and spent the night 
at a short distance from them. In the morning, he was alarmed 
to see the whole garrison in motion on the ramparts ; but they 
had assembled from some accidental cause, and soon withdrew. 
The French then advanced through a thick wood, which brought 
them almost close to one of the smaller forts. On emerging 
from the forest they were seen, the alarm was given, and two 
guns fired ; but, rushing forward with wild impetuosity, they 
scaled the ramparts, an Indian chief being foremost. The garri- 
son, seized with terror, ran out in every direction, and were 
nearly all killed or taken. Those in the next station followed 
their example and soon shared their fate ; but the main fortress 
was still untouched, and defended by troops far more numerous 



72 RETALIATION BV DE GOURGUES. 

than the assailants. A small party, however, having rashly sal- 
lied out, were surrounded and nearly cut off; whereupon the 
whole body, struck with the general panic, at once abandoned 
their stronghold, and sought safety in the woods. Being eagerly 
pursued, most of them were taken ; and De Gourgues had given 
strict orders to bring in as many alive as possible. He then l^d 
them all together to the fatal tree on which the remains of his 
slaughtered countrymen yet hung, and having upbraided them 
in the strongest terms for their treachery and cruelty, he 
hanged them all : suspending a number of their bodies on the 
same trunk, and substituting the following inscription: — ^' Jfot 
because they are Spaniards, hut because they are traitors, rob- 
bers, and murderers.^^ Had this execution been confined to a 
few of the ringleaders, it might have been held as a just retri- 
bution ; but being inflicted on so large a scale, it almost rivalled 
the atrocity which it was meant to avenge. 

De Gourgues had not come with any intention of settlement. 
Embarking, therefore, with whatever was valuable in the forts, 
he sailed for Rochelle, and was received in that Protestant capi- 
tal with the loudest acclamations. His reception at Bordeaux 
was equally flattering ; but it was very different at Paris, where 
Charles showed no little inclination to transmit his head to Phi- 
lip, who loudly demanded it. Steps w^re even taken for bring- 
ing him to trial ; but they were found so excessively unpopular, 
that it was deemed expedient to withdraw them, and allow him 
to retire into Normandy. 





Captain John Smith. 




CHAPTER IV. 

SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

HE government of Great Britain, notwithstand- 
ing the claims derived from the important dis- 
covery of Cabot, held, for a long time, by no 
means the foremost place in American coloniza- 
(^l^"" tion. She was surpassed, not by Spain only, but 
I even by France. Through the voyages of Verazzano, Cartier, 
j Champ] ain, and others, the latter kingdom acquired extensive 
i claims, and formed some important settlements. But the long 
I civil war, ending in the humihation and downfall of the Protes- 
I tants, who were almost exclusively skilled in commerce and na- 
vigation, threw her greatly behind in this career ; and, notwith- 
standing some strenuous efforts at a latter period, she never 
could rank as a first-rate colonial power. But England, during 

7 • ■ (73) 



74 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

the reign of Elizabeth, while the two other nations were dor- 
mant or sinking, made extraordinary movements, and advanced 
with rapid steps to that pre-eminence which she has so signally 
maintained. The queen indeed, frugal and cautious, expended 
little of hei; own treasure ; but she had the skill to attract, and 
direct to her own purposes, the vast resources of her subjects. 
Great exertions were made by individuals and associations, in- 
cluding many of those eminent characters who distinguished 
that age. Their attention was for a long time engrossed by a 
northern passage to the East Indies round America. Sir Hum- 
phrey Gilbert first attempted colonization on a great scale ; but 
his expedition, directed to more northerly coasts, does not come 
within our present range, while its disastrous issue was cal- 
culated to deter future adventurers. 

Sir Walter Raleigh, how^ever, undertook to found a colony, 
which has become the most flourishing in modern times. In 
1584, he obtained from Elizabeth a patent, conferring those 
almost regal privileges which were never denied to any one 
who adventured his fortune in colonial undertakings. He, and 
his heirs for ever, were to have, hold, occupy, and enjoy all 
such remote heathen and barbarous lands as he should discover ; 
he might capture any vessel that attempted to trade thither 
without his license, unless driven by stress of weather, or en- 
gaged in the Newfoundland fishery ; and in short, no reserva- 
tion w^as made, except the fifth part of the gold and silver which 
might be obtained. 

Sir Walter determined to direct his attention to a more south- 
ern and fertile region than that which had proved so fatal to 
his predecessor. He did not go in person, but sent, in the first 
instance, a small exploratory expedition of two vessels, under 
Amadas and Barlow, ofl[icers of merit. They sailed in April, 
1584, and, following his views, pursued their course by the 
Canaries and West Indies. Thence, bending northward, on the 
4th July they came upon the coast of Carolina, and were en- 
chanted by the delicious fragrance which breathed from it. 



AMADAS AND BARLOW. 



75 




The Indian's Breastplate. 



They were obliged to sail one hundred and twenty miles before 
finding any appearance of a harbour ; the coast proved low and 
sandy ; but green hills rose in the interior, and vines grew in a 
profusion which they had never seen equalled in Europe. 

At length they ventured to land upon Wokokon, near Ocra- 
cock inlet, which opens into Pamlico Sound ; when, on mount- 
ing a hill, they found with surprise that they had been traversing, 
not the continent, but the exterior shore of long narrow islands. 
For two days no inhabitant was seen ; but on the third, one 
appeared walking on the beach. He was invited on board, and, 
being treated with victuals and wine, departed with every ap- 
pearance of satisfaction. On his report, others followed ; and 
at length there arrived no less a person than Granganimeo, the 
king's brother, with about fifty attendants. They stood round 
him in reverent and deep silence, only broken by whispers from 
four chiefs, wearing headdresses of red copper. The audience 
began with presents, all of wliich, the prince intimated must be 
delivered to himself; and this was followed by traffic, in which 
they could offer a number of valuable skins. The great man's 
eye was caught by a tin dish, which, suspended across his breast, 
was expected to form an amulet against all his enemies. For 



76 SETTLEMENT ^F VIRGINIA. 

this trifling article he cheerfully gave twenty skins, each worth 
about a noble. A copper kettle brought fifty ; so that the trade 
proved most profitable to the English. On the island of Roan- 
oake, they went to visit Granganimeo, who w^as absent, but 
his wife gave them a most hospitable reception. After ex- 
ploring the neighbouring coasts and sounds, the navigators 
returned home in September, with two natives, Manteo and 
Wanchese, giving a most flattering account of the countr}^ and 
people. They declared the soil to be " the most plentiful, sweet, 
fruitful, and wholesome of all the world ;" the people, " most 
gentle, loving, and faithful, void of all guile and treason, and 
such as lived after the manner of the golden age." 

These reports kindled all that enthusiasm w^hich naturally 
arises on any discovery begetting vague and brilHant hopes. 
Raleigh expended nearly his whole fortune in fitting out seven 
vessels, which were easily filled with emigrants, to the number 
of 108. None of the ships, indeed, exceeded 140 tons, and 
three were mere boats. The command was given to Sir Richard 
Grenville, one of the brightest ornaments of that age of gallantry, 
and surnamed " The Brave." The fleet sailed early in April ; 
but having again taken the circuitous route of the West Indies, 
did not reach its destination till the end of June. The crews 
landed, and undertook an excursion into the interior, where they 
were, as before, w^ell received ; but the foundation of future 
enmity was laid, when, on account of the disappearance of a 
silver cup, a village was burned, and the grain removed. In 
August, Grenville, who had merely undertaken to conduct the 
naval armament, departed for England, leaving as permanent 
governor, Ralph Lane, a brave officer, but wanting, it should 
seem, that consummate prudence and discretion, so necessary in 
the management of a new colony. 

The party seem to have arrived with high expectations, but 
without any fixed plan ; and the last thing thought of was to 
take up the axe or the plough, though the only sure mode of 
obtaining even a subsistence. Gems and metallic wealth were 



LANE'S EXPEDITION. 



77 




Grenville burning an Indian village. 



always the objects that ghttered before them. Lane, by some 
means which he does not choose to explain, had held as a cap- 
tive, Menatonon, one of the most powerful princes, whom he 
did not dismiss without a large ransom. From him and others, 
accounts were received of a country in the interior, abounding 
in rich pearls, probably the same brilliant shells that misled Soto ; 
also of a wonderful metal resembling copper, but softer and paler, 
and which was formed into ornamental plates. This was proba- 
bly no other than the gold of central Carolina ; but Lane, even 
without suspecting this, proceeded with a chosen body to ascend 
the Roanoke. The Indians allured him by promises of aid, and 
of having supplies of food at regular stations ; and though his 
own conduct might well have led him to doubt their sincerity, he 
seems to have suspected nothing. The party continued three 
days to ascend the river, delighted with its spacious and noble ex- 
panse ; but during this time neither Indians nor provisions were 
seen, and all the villages were deserted. He then observed to 
his men, that they had barely sustenance sufficient to enable 
7* 



78 SETTLEMENT *0F VIRGINIA. 

them to regain the settlement; but they, buoyed up by wild 
expectations, entreated to be led onward, representing, that they 
had two mastiffs which, when killed, and their flesh made into 
soup with sassafras leaves, would keep them alive some time. 
They sailed onward, amid desolation as deep as ever, till it be- 
gan to be broken by lights moving to and fro in the woods. 
Suddenly, from their depth, a voice was heard, calling on Man- 
teo, their domesticated Indian, who immediately entreated them 
to be on their guard. Presently a shower of arrows fell around 
the vessel, though happily without material injury. An eager 
pursuit was commenced ; but the enemy had " wooded them- 
selves," and could nowhere be traced. There was then no 
option but to return ; and Lane warned his party that they must 
betake themselves to their "dog's porridge, which they had 
bespoken." They could not refuse, yet doubts are intimated 
whether a dish so unsavoury had ever been set before human 
beings. 

They returned just in time to prevent a general attack upon 
the settlement. The report was spread, that their God having J 
no power, had suffered them all to be either killed or starved, 1 
which last statement is acknowledged to have approached very 
nearly the truth. Their reappearance suspended these views, 
and restored confidence to the small party of their friends. 
Soon, however, the national enmity broke forth in a genera] 
conspiracy, at the head of which was Wingina or Pemisapan, 
the most powerful of the caciques. They had agreed to refrain 
from sowing the adjacent grounds, to destroy the fishing wears, 
and thereby to reduce the invaders to starvation. It was ulti- 
mately resolved to make a grand attack in the night, for which 
large bodies were secretly collected ; and the design, being veiled 
under a show of the most ardent friendship, deceived the Eng- 
lish. But the captive prince, notwithstanding his wrongs, 
having been extremely well treated, had become attached to 
them and made the disclosure. Lane, having learned both the 
destined time and place, resolved to be beforehand with them ; but 






LANE. 79 

they, " privy to their own villanous purposes, held good espial." 
Both parties flew to arms ; and the Indians, after losing a few 
men, fled into the Avoods. The European, however, determined 
not to be outdone in treachery. Pretending not to be aware of 
Pemisapan's concern in the affair, he solicited an interview, as 
if to lay before him his complaints against the others. The 
savage came accordingly, when, on a given signal, the English 
discharged their pieces upon him and his follow^ers. The chief, 
though wounded, fled with rapidity ; but being hotly pursued, 
his head was brought to the commander. 

The immediate danger was thus averted ; but the enmity of 
the natives was henceforth unappeasable, and the strangers 
began seriously to ponder their situation. Of their golden 
dreams they saw no prospect or chance of fulfilment, while ab- 
solute want stared them in the face ; the supplies promised at 
Easter had not arrived in June ; and they were in momentary 
dread of perishing either by famine or the arrow^s of the savages. 
Amid these dispositions a fleet of twenty-three vessels was seen 
in the offing ; and after some alarm lest it should prove a hostile 
squadron, the joyful announcement was made, of its being that 
of Sir Francis Drake, returning from his victorious expedition 
against the Spanish main. That gallant officer readily agreed 
to give them a store of provisions, a sloop of seventy tons, and 
other small craft, with which they might either explore the 
coasts or return to England ; the latter, it is probable, being the 
real object. A violent storm, how'ever, destroyed these vessels, 
thus defeating the arrangement; and Lane, upon the earnest 
entreaty of the settlers, contented himself with obtaining a place 
on board the fleet, by which he and his adventurers might be 
conveyed home. 

The conclusion that Raleigh had deserted them was quite un- 
founded. A few days after this hasty departure, there arrived 
a brig of one hundred tons, provided wdth everything needful 
for their wants ; but to the utter amazement of the crew, there 
were no colonists to supply. After saiHng about some time, 



80 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

and satisfying themselves of the fact, they too returned to 
Europe. This was another hasty step ; for a fortnight had not 
elapsed, when Sir Richard Grenville appeared, bringing three 
well-appointed ships, laden with every means of supporting and 
enlarging the colony. His dismay may be conceived wher 
neither the_ vessels previously despatched, nor one Englishman, 
could be found within those savage precincts. He therefore 
left merely fifteen men to erect a fort, and keep a certain hold 
of the country till farther reinforcements could be sent out. 

All this compUcation of failure, blunder, and disaster did not 
yet discourage Raleigh. In April of the following year, he 
fitted out a new expedition of three ships, and one hundred and 
fifty persons, led by John White, who was appointed governor, 
with twelve assistants, who also perhaps contributed to the ex- 
pense. Attempts were made to estabhsh it on a somewhat more 
solid footing. Implements of agriculture were provided : several 
families went out, and the party, including seventeen females 
and nine boys, arrived in July, and proceeded to the former 
settlement. Here a dreadful scene met their eyes ; the fort was 
razed to the ground ; the houses, though still standing, were 
open and tenantless ; the floors overgrown with shrubs and 
weeds, on which deer were feeding. The bones of one man lay 
scattered on the ground ; while of the rest not a trace remained. 
After anxious inquiry, it was found that a band of Indians had 
surprised and burnt the fort, when the English, rushing out to 
save themselves, were either killed or chased into the woods, 
where they soon perished. 

White began by soliciting from the Indian chiefs a renewal 
of their former alliance, promising the most friendly treatment, 
and that everything which had passed should be forgiven. 
They announced that an answer would be returned in seven 
days ; and when the time elapsed without being fulfilled, he 
determined on a hostile expedition. Led by Manteo, he at- 
tacked a party, and drove them into the forest ; but was dis- 
mayed to find that by mistake he had fallen upon one of the few 



WHITE. 81 

friendly tribes. He then relinquished farther proceedings ; but 
all hope of conciliatory arrangements was lost. 

As winter approached, and the vessel was about to return to 
Europe, the colonists began seriously to view their situation. 
They could look for nothing from the Indians but the most 
deadly hostility, while the raising of supplies for themselves was 
a work of time and uncertainty. They therefore joined in an 
earnest entreaty to White, that he would accompany the ship, 
and exert himself in bringing to them further aid and support. 
He strongly objected, on the ground that it would have the ap- 
pearance as if he w^ere deserting his own colony ; but they in- 
sisted, and having dehvered a written testimony, signed and 
sealed, stating that the proposal came from themselves, he con- 
sented. There had been born to him during his residence a 
granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the first offspring of Enghsh 
parents on the soil of the United States. 

White returned at an unfortunate crises, when the whole na- 
tion was engrossed by preparations to meet the Spanish armada. 
Sir Richard Grenviile, while making ready sail to Virginia, was 
detained for this more important service. Yet Raleigh con- 
trived to furnish the other with two well-provided vessels ; but 
that officer imprudently going out of his way in search of 
prizes, in which he was ultimately unsuccessful, had his ships 
severely damaged, and was obliged to return. This was suc- 
ceeded by the actual arrival of the grand armament in the Chan- 
nel, which for a season banished every other thought. 

Even after this eventful period of danger and triumph, the 
colony sustained another severe loss. Raleigh having spent 
40,000/., nearly his whole fortune, and encountered only a 
series of disaster, without any immediate benefit or sure pros- 
pect, determined to turn his attention to other objects. He 
found an association who, on having his privileges transferred to 
them, undertook the charge of supporting the settlement ; and 
yet, through the delays incident to the change. White could not 
be fitted out till 1590. He sailed in May ; but, in consequence 



82 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

of adverse winds, did not reach Roanoke till the middle of 
August. Again the colony was in a state of utter desolation ; 
though there appeared reason to hope that it had removed to a 
more favourable site formerly projected. This was the island 
of Croatoan, fifty miles distant, in which Manteo resided, and 
where he met a most friendly reception. In that event they had 
been stipulated that the letters c r o should be carved on the 
bark of a tree, which were found, and elsewhere the full name 
Croatoan. A cross was to have indicated a disastrous removal ; 
and this sign of evil was absent. Chests and various stores had 
been buried in the earth ; some were entire ; others had been 
discovered and rifled by the Indians. On the whole. White 
concluded that all was well, and began to steer for the new 
station ; but meeting with some difficulties, and the season being 
advanced, it was very coolly resolved to make for the West In- 
dies, trade there, and touch at the colony on his return home. 
After coming out into the open ocean, the wind was so adverse 
to his proposed course, and so favourable to that for Britain, 
that the latter was adopted, and he arrived at home in October. 

Raleigh felt deeply concerned in the fate of his colony, send- 
ing, it is said, five different vessels, the last in 1602 ; but they 
performed their duty ill, and all returned without reaching the 
the spot. No intelligence was ever received or trace found of 
this unfortunate settlement. 

It would not be easy to find a parallel to this series of abor- 
tive and disastrous expeditions ; for after so many successive 
colonies, and such lavish expenditure, not a trace was discover- 
able that an Englishman had ever set foot on the soil of Vir- 
ginia. It can scarcely therefore be considered a reflection on 
British enterprise that it should for some time have paused : 
and yet, by an elastic power, it soon rose again from under the 
deepest depression. In 1602, a vessel sailed, under Captain 
Bartholomew Gosnold, with thirty-two men, twelve of whom 
intended to settle. Striking directly across the ocean, he came 
upon the coast of Massachusetts ; and after sailing onward some 



GOSNOLD. 83 

time, reached a bold promontory which, from the great quantity 
of fish caught in the vicinity, he named Cape Cod ; and it has 
ever formed a conspicuous point on the American continent. 
The crew, having merely touched the shores of New England, 
began to " trend the coast southerly," and after passing some 
dangerous spots, named Tucker's Tejrror, Point Care, and other 
promontories, they reached a large island, which they called 
Martha's Vineyard. Having landed, they were pleased with 
its aspect, yet sailed on till they entered Buzzard's Bay, ad- 
joining Rhode Island, which appearing one of the stateliest 
sounds ever seen, received the name of Gosnold's Hope. Eliza- 
beth's Island, within its circuit, was chosen as a desirable place 
of settlement. The soil was clothed with noble trees, and with 
underwood, which, among other valuable plants, included sassa- 
fras, then esteemed a medicine of sovereign virtue. Some pulse 
being sown, grew in a fortnight to half a foot. They debarked 
on the main land, which appeared " the goodliest they ever 
saw, replenished with fair fields." Having erected a fort, and 
collected a cargo, chiefly of sassafras, they prepared to return ; 
but at this crisis the intending colonists were struck with panic 
at the idea of being left with only a small stock of provisions 
on this remote and savage shore, not without a fear that the ves- 
sel might never return, and, like former settlers, they might be 
abandoned to their fate. Their companions, too, would thus 
escape all responsibihty for their share of the cargo. Under 
these apprehensions they abandoned the idea of remaining, and 
went on board with the rest. 

Although this expedition did not issue in settlement, it re- 
newed a favourable impression respecting American colonization. 
Hakluyt, the indefatigable promoter of discovery, prevailed upon 
several merchants of Bristol to equip two small vessels ; and 
Raleigh, who still held the patent extending over all this coast, 
being asked for his consent, readily gave it, signed and sealed. 
Two ships, of fifty and twenty-six tons respectively, were placed 
under Martin Pring, who, sailing by the Azores, came upon the 



84 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

shores of Maine, in 43° N. ]at., near the bay of Penobscot. 
The coast was fruitful ; but as it yielded little sassafras, he pro- 
ceeded southwards till he came into the track of Gosnold, which 
he followed to a bay in lat. 41°, where there was an abundant 
supply of that favourite plant. The first intercourse with the 
Indians was friendly ; but afterwards alarm w^as taken at their 
coming armed in large numbers, with a threatening aspect. 
Pring confirmed the favourable account of the country given by 
his predecessor. 

Circumstances now appeared so promising as to influence in- 
dividuals of the highest distinction. The Earl of Southampton, 
one of the most accomplished noblemen of the age, and Lord 
Arundel of Wardour, fitted out George Weymouth, who had 
already, in searching for the north-west passage, made some 
discoveries on the coast of Labrador. Sailing on the last day 
of March, 1605, on the 13th of May, he fell in with the Ame- 
rican coast in about 41° ; but, to avoid dangerous rocks and 
shoals, he stood out again to sea. His object was to go south- 
ward, but the wind drove him considerably to the north. Being 
then in want of wood and water, he stood in for the land ; but 
found the charts extremely erroneous, and after proceeding fifty 
leagues, he saw himself in the midst of those small islands which 
stud the Bay of Penobscot. At one of them, in a most com- 
modious harbour, he left the ship, and in the pinnace ascended 
the bay, till he reached the mouth of a large river. The party 
rowed up twenty miles, and thought it the finest they had ever 
seen. Some companions of Sir Walter Raleigh considered that 
even the mighty Orinoco could not stand a comparison with it. 
It was navigable for vessels drawing sixteen or eighteen feet 
water, and completely free from rocks and shoals. The shore 
was covered with fine forests, chiefly of pine ; and the coast 
was level, though high mountains appeared in the interior. 
They held friendly intercourse with a number of the natives, 
and obtained valuable furs at cheap rates. These people were 
astonished and awed by the action of the loadstone ; but appear- 



WEYMOUTH. 85 

ing afterwards in rather alarming numbers, they gave an invita- 
tion to land in a manner so suspicious, that Weymouth rejoiced 
" that God gave him so much understanding as to avoid their 
snares." We cannot but remark that no unequivocal act of 
hostility was committed ; but five of them were enticed on 
board, and with their canoe carried to England. 

This series of voyages conveyed to Britain a much higher 
idea than had yet been entertained of her transatlantic dominion. 
It was found to include a range of territory stretching over 
eleven degrees of latitude, all in the temperate climates, diversi- 
fied with noble rivers and harbours, and, wherever visited, dis- 
playing a luxuriant fertility. This prospect rekindled all the 
enthusiasm of enterprise and hopes of wealth. An association 
w^as formed by Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Summers, Wing- 
field, Popham, with other men of rank and eminent merchants, 
for the purpose of colonizing this vast region. James I., who 
was fond of such undertakings, and had employed them success- 
fully for the improvement of some ruder parts of Scotland and 
Ireland, was ready to give every encouragement. The adven- 
turers were divided into two companies ; the one from London 
for the southern, the other from Bristol and the west for the 
northern parts of Virginia. The former were allowed to choose 
any spot between the 34th and 41st degrees of latitude ; the lat- 
ter between the 38th and 45th. Three degrees were thus com- 
mon between both ; but coHision w^as prevented by enacting 
that wherever one had fixed its seat, the other should choose 
theirs at least one hundred miles distant. From that first sta- 
tion each company was to possess fifty miles of coast on each 
side ; their territory was thence to stretch the same distance 
inland, and the same out to sea, including all islands within the 
range. These terms deserve notice, as they seem to have been 
much misapprehended by Chalmers, Bancroft, and indeed most 
other writers. The coast was not divided between the com- 
panies, nor had either an exclusive right to their own portions 
beyond the space of one hundred miles square, which they were 
8 



86 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

allowed to choose. This may serve to acquit successive princes 
of the repeated infractions of the charter with which they have 
been charged. Within this range the associations obtained full 
property in all the lands, natural resources, and objects of every 
kind, with only the usual exception of a fifth of the gold and a 
fifteenth of the copper. The revenue produced by fines and 
light import-duties was to be enjoyed by them for twenty-one 
years, after which it was to be paid into the royal treasury. 
They were not, however, invested with those kingly attributes 
which had been lavished on Gilbert and Raleigh. James lodged 
the government in two councils, one resident in England, the 
other in the colony, and claimed the right of appointing both ; 
but, having exercised it in regard to the first, he allowed them 
to nominate the Virginian members. He busied himself more- 
over in preparing a code of " orders and instructions," a pro- 
ceeding, as Chalmers observes, decidedly unconstitutional, but 
controverted by no one. The colonists and their posterity were 
declared English subjects, yet were invested with no political 
rights, not even trial by jury, unless in capital charges ; minor 
offences were punished arbitrarily by the council. The Eng- 
lish church was exclusively established. Strict and laudable in- 
junctions were given for the mild and equitable treatment of the 
natives. 

The year 1606 was spent in collecting funds and adventurers, 
which last amounted then to one hundred and five, including 
persons of distinction, particularly George Percy, brother to 
the Earl of Northumberland. There were also Gosnold, and 
Mr. Hunt, a clergyman, while Captain Newport, an officer of 
skill and experience, undertook the naval command. But the 
individual destined to exercise the happiest influence on the new 
colony was Captain John Smith, who already, in the Turkish 
war, had displayed a firmness and intrepidity peculiarly fitting 
him for this arduous appointment. The fleet of three vessels, 
none exceeding one hundred tons, sailed from London on the 
19th December, taking again the circuitous route of the West 



SETTLEMENT AT JAMESTOWN. 87 

Indies, rendered necessary perhaps through the lateness of the 
season. The arrangements, however, had been injudicious. 
James, by a ridiculous caprice, had caused the names and in- 
structions of the council to be enclosed in a box, not to be opened 
till after the arrival in Virginia ; and thus the crew, in going 
out, knew not whom to obey. The energy of Smith, with his 
frank and manly bearing, soon led them to recognise him as 
their leader. This was envied by others higher in rank, who 
charged him with a design to set aside the council, to usurp the 
government, and to become king. On these unsupported charges 
he was arrested, and confined during the voyage, and for some 
time longer ; so that his services, when most wanted, were lost 
to the colony. 

The expedition did not reach the coast of America till April, 
1607. And in making for Roanoke, a violent tempest drove 
them quite out of their reckoning. Being tossed about several 
days w^ithout sight of land, they became despondent, and some 
even urged a return to England. Suddenly they came in view 
of an unknown promontory, w^hich marked the entrance into a 
spacious gulf. This was the magnificent opening of the Chesa- 
peake, the opposite capes of which were named after the young 
princes, Henry and Charles. The view of this coast at once 
dispelled their gloom, and made them rejoice in their enforced 
change of direction. " They were almost ravished at the sight 
thereof. — It seemed to them to claim the prerogative over the 
most pleasant places in the world. Heaven and earth seem 
never to have agreed better to frame a place for man's commo- 
dious and delightful habitation." They soon reached a noble 
river, which they named James, and after ascending and examin- 
ing its shores during seventeen days, they chose for their colony 
a spot fifty miles up, and called it Jamestown. The difficulties 
of treating wath the natives soon began. The very first night 
" came the savages creeping upon all-fours from the hills, like 
bears, with their bows in their mouths." These they dis- 
charged against the strangers and wounded two ; but as soon 



SS SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

as " they had felt the sharpness of our shot" they retreated 
with loud cries into the woods. Afterwards five, who were 
met near Cape Henry, though showing some signs of fear, were 
reassured by seeing " the captain lay his hand on his heart," 
and invite them across the river to the town. Their welcome 
was singularly expressed " by a doleful noise, laying their faces 
to the ground, scratching the earth with their nails." Mats 
were then spread on the ground, and covered with maize-bread, 
while tobacco was presented, with long ornamented pipes. 
They then danced for the amusement of their guests, shouting, 
howling, and stamping, " with many antic tricks and faces, 
making noise like so many wolves or devils." The English 
received a pressing invitation from a great Indian chief, the 
Werrowannee of Rappahana, whom they found rich in rude 
ornament, his person painted red and blue, with various embel- 
lishments, seemingly of pearl and silver, and a metal which was 
either copper or gold. " He entertained us in so modest a proud 
fashion, as though he had been a prince of civil government." 
His palace, on a hill watered by fine springs, was surrounded 
by as rich corn-fields as they had ever seen. 

As soon as the party had landed, the box of instructions was 
opened, and the names of the council were found, including 
Smith ; who, though he was kept out by the jealousy of his 
rivals, nevertheless accompanied Newport up the river, as high 
as the great falls, where they visited Powhatan, a sort of petty 
emperor over all the surrounding tribes. Smith reckons them 
at seven thousand, of whom nearly two thousand were war- 
riors ; but he never saw more than seven hundred together. 
Powhatan received them well ; and when some of his people 
murmured at the land being thus occupied by a party of 
strangers, he replied, it v/as only waste ground, and, as long as 
they injured no one, they were welcome. 

On their return to Jamestowm, affairs were found in evil plight. 
The colonists, not we fear without blame, had incurred the hos- 
tility of the savages, while they neglected to fortify their posi- 



CONDITION OF THE COLONY. 89 

tion. A general attack, which was made, was repulsed with 
great difficulty, seventeen being wounded and one boy killed. 
By#great exertion, about the middle of June, a palisaded fort 
was erected, secure against those rude assailants, who, however, 
continued to hover round, cutting off stragglers, and obliging 
the settlers to keep constant watch. The charges against 
Smith were still pressed, and a party wished to send him to 
England; but he, loudly demanding a trial on the spot, was 
supported by a majority of the colonists. He was triumphantly 
acquitted, and Winglield, his accuser, condemned to pay him 
a fine of 200/., which he generously threw into the common 
stock. Mr. Hunt, the clergyman, succeeded in producing at 
least an appearance of harmony, cemented by partaking to- 
gether the Christian communion. 

On the 15th June, Newport, with the vessels, sailed for Bri- 
tain, leaving the settlers in the midst of that vast wilderness 
which they had undertaken to cultivate. In this situation the 
brilliant hopes which had lured them thither quickly vanished. 
The fruitfulness of the soil indeed fully equalled expectation ; 
but all the machinery by which it could be made capable of pro- 
ducing individual wealth was still to be created. The land re- 
quired not only a laborious culture, for which they were little 
prepared — but a still harder task remained ; that of hewing 
down the forest, which covered the whole of it. By an un- 
happy arrangement, all the produce for the first five years w^as 
to be in common, and distributed by the council according to 
their respective wants. But, as Chalmers shrewdly observes, 
" when men are not to profit, they will labour little ; and when 
all are fed from a common granary, few^ will concern themselves 
how it is filled." Raising scarcely any crop the first year, they 
were dependent on the supplies from home, which had been 
much diminished during the long voyage, and are alleged to 
have been originally of inferior quality. A slender allowance 
of this unwholesome food, bad river-water, and exposure to a 
new climate, soon spread disease so widely, that there were 
8* 



90 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

often not ten men fit for service. " There were never," says 
Percy, " Englishmen left in a foreign country, in such misery as 
we were." Before autumn, fifty died, nearly half their mem- 
ber, among whom was Gosnold, the projector of the settlement. 
Discontent naturally arose ; Wingfield, the president, was ac- 
cused of living in plenty, while others were perishing, and even 
of meditating a departure. On these charges he was deposed, 
and his place supplied by Ratcliffe, who, being of an easy tem- 
per, left the whole management to Smith, which was what the 
colonists desired. 

This gentleman justly considered sustenance the most impor- 
tant object, in search of which he proceeded with a party down 
the river. The natives treated them with derision, " as famished 
men, and holding out morsels of bread, asked for them swords, 
muskets, and other valuables." Unable to succeed by fair 
means, he discharged a volley, which caused them immediately 
to seek the shelter of the woods. Landing at a village, he 
found food in abundance ; but forbade his people to encumber 
themselves with it, foreseeing the immediate return of the In- 
dians. Accordingly, there soon issued forth, amid hideous noises, 
sixty or seventy painted savages, bearing in front their ote, an 
image of skins stuffed with moss, and hung with copper chains. 
They advanced upon the English, but met so kindly a recep- 
tion, that " down fell their god," divers of his worshippers lay 
sprawling, and the rest disappeared. Their spirit being now 
humbled, they sent presently a venerable character, a quiyough- 
casucky to treat for peace, and for the restoration of their idol. 
Smith answered, that if they would load his boat, they should 
be welcome not only to their okee, but to a stock of beads, 
hatchets, and other valuables. They cheerfully assented, and 
amidst singing and dancing, brought not only the stipulated 
grain, but presents of turkey, venison, and wild-fowl. 

Smith returned just in time to prevent Wingfield and another 
from seizing a vessel and sailing to England. His supplies, 
with the flocks of water-fowl which came at the approach of 



SMITH TAKEN PRISONER. 91 

winter, relieved their wants ; and having in his rambles dis- 
covered the great river Chickahamine, he determined to explore 
it to its source, not it is said without a hope of thereby reach- 
ing the South Sea, viewed then as the grand source of wealth. 
He was impelled, it was imagined, by the taunts of some of his 
enemies in the colony, but we rather think only by his own ad- 
venturous spirit. He ascended first in his barge, then in a 
canoe, and twenty miles on foot, attended only by his Indian 
guides. But three hundred natives, who had traced his steps, 
surprised and dispersed his party, and then came suddenly upon 
himself. He made astonishing efforts for safety, and fastening 
with his garters a native ally to his person, presented him to 
the enemy as a buckler ; then he ran to the canoe, which he 
would have reached, had he not suddenly sunk in a deep morass, 
where he was overtaken, and, to escape from perishing with cold, 
obliged to surrender. 

He had now reason to consider his last hour approaching, and 
a circle had in fact been made to shoot him. With characteris- 
tic presence of mind he asked for the chief, showed his com- 
pass-dial, pointed out its singular movements, and endeavoured 
to explain the corresponding phenomena of the earth and sky. 
Whether they understood these indications or not, they were 
awed with astonishment as if admitted to contemplate a super- 
natural object. On a signal from their leader, they laid down 
their bows and arrows, and led him under strict guard to their 
capital. He was there exhibited to the women and children ; 
and a wild war-dance was performed round him, in fantastic 
measures and with frightful yells and contortions. He was 
then shut up in a long house, and supplied at every meal with 
as much bread and venison as would have dined twenty men ; 
but, receiving no other sign of kindness, he began to dread that 
they were fattening in order to eat him. Even without such a 
precise purpose, this festive entertainment is known among 
savages to be no uncommon prelude to torture and death. They 
asked his aid in reducing Jamestown, while he sought an op- 



92 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 




Smith showing the Compass. 

portunity of making his way thither. In the course of this 
manoeuvring, a message sent to that place gave him an oppor- 
tunity to display the powers of wTiting, which was considered 
by them as a species of magical spell. At length, after being 
paraded and exhibited in various villages, he was led to Pamun- 
key, the residence of Powhatan. It was here his doom was 
sealed. The chief received him in pomp, wrapt in a spacious 
robe of rackoon skins, with all the tails hanging down. Behind 
appeared two long lines of men and women, with faces painted 
red, heads decked with white down, and necks quite encircled 
by chains of beads. A lady of rank presented water to wash 
his hands, another a bunch of feathers to dry them. A long 
deliberation was then held, and the result proved fatal. Two 
large stones were placed before Powhatan, and by the united 
efforts of the attendants Smith was dragged to the spot, his 
head laid on one of them, and the mighty club was raised, a few 
blows of which were to terminate his life. In this last ex- 
tremity, when every hope seemed past, a very unexpected inter- 
position took place. Pocahontas, the youthful and favourite 
daughter of this savage chief, was seized with those tender emo- 



POCAHONTAS. 



99 




Pocahontas rescuing Smith. 



tions which form the ornament of her sex. Advancing to her 
father, she in the most earnest terms supplicated mercy for the 
stranger ; and though all her entreaties were lost on that savage 
heart, her zeal only redoubled. She ran to Smith, took his 
head in her arms, laid her own upon it, and declared that the 
first death-blow must fall upon her. The barbarian's breast 
was at length softened, and the life of the Englishman was 
spared. 



94 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

Our adventurer, being naturally expected to render some ser- 
vices in return for so great a boon, employed himself in mak- 
ing hatchets, beads, and other ornaments for the father and 
daughter. At the end of two days he was conducted into a 
large house, where, amid hideous and doleful noises, Powhatan 
rushed in, with two hundred attendants, strangely disguised 
and their faces blackened. Smith again thought his last hour 
had come, but the chief announced these as signs of peace and 
friendship ; and he was forthwith sent to Jamestown, on the sole 
condition of transmitting thence two culverins and a millstone, 
a promise faithfully fulfilled. 

He ngain arrived at a critical moment. A majority of the 
colonists, impatient of continued hardship and privation, had 
determined to prepare a pinnace, and set sail for their native 
country. He took the most energetic steps to arrest this 
course, having, with the aid of some faithful adherents, pointed 
a gun at the vessel, and declared she must either stop or sink. 
A conspiracy w^as then formed against him ; but by his vigilance 
he detected it, and sent the ringleaders to England. The fair 
Pocahontas continued her generous kindness, and came every 
four or five days with provisions, which relieved their wants 
and revived their spirits. They were soon still farther cheered 
by the arrival of Captain Newport, w4th one hundred and 
twenty emigrants and liberal supplies. The company, how- 
ever, now impatiently endured their heavy expenses, and the 
absence of all prospect of marketable returns. Gold was still 
viewed as the main source of wealth, and many of the new 
comers had been selected on account of their supposed skill in 
its discovery. Naturally desiring to satisfy their employers, 
they thought they perceived in a certain yellow ghttering earth 
this precious ore. Thenceforth all sober industry was thrown 
aside : " Dig gold, w^ash gold, refine gold, was the universal 
cry." Smith lamented to see the whole attention of the settlers 
attracted by this " gilded dirt,'' but could not prevent them from 
putting a large portion on board, and some time elapsed before 



SMITH EXPLORES THE CHESAPEAKE. 



95 



they were apprised that a skilful examination had proved it 
utterly worthless. Fortunately perhaps, no rumour seems ever 
to have reached them of the real gold in the mountainous 
country, whence they were indeed more distant than the first 
colonists. 

Newport, on learning the friendly intercourse with Powhatan, 
sent liberal presents, and was invited to visit that savage poten- 
tate. He found the monarch surrounded by twenty-two fair 
ladies, lavishly painted and decked with beads. A courteous 
traffic was opened, in which Smith considered the captain as 
overreached, particularly in afterwards acceding to a request 
for twenty swords, dangerous weapons to put into such hands. 
The latter, after remaining fourteen weeks, departed, without 
being able to collect any other cargo besides cedar-wood, and 
the yellow earth of which such illusory hopes were entertained. 




Captain Smith exploring the Chesapeake. 



Smith now undertook the important task of exploring the 
Chesapeake to its head, not only with the view of tracing the 
limits of the colony, but still more from the hope of an inlet 
opening into the South Sea, and affording a passage to India. 
In a small barge of only two tons, he made an extensive sur- 
vey of the Chesapeake and its tributary waters. He then re- 



96 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA, 

turned to Jamestown, examining in his way the river Patuxent. 
This voyage of about three thousand miles, performed by 
twelve men, in a small open barge, " with such watery diet, in 
those great waters and barbarous countries," was extremely 
creditable to the parties. Although unproductive as to the 
South Sea or to gold, it made an important addition to the 
knowledge of this part of America. 

On his arrival. Smith was installed as president, and began, 
with characteristic activity, to improve the buildings, strengthen 
the forts, and train the men to military exercises ; but he was 
interrupted by the arrival of Newport with a fresh colony of 
about seventy, including two females. The company having 
spent at least 2000/. in the equipment, expressed an earnest de- 
sire and expectation of being somewhat reimbursed. They 
pointed particularly, as objects to be attained, a lump of gold, 
the discovery of the South Sea, or a member of Raleigh's lost 
company. The second being seemingly the main object, a 
barge was sent in frame to ascend one of the great rivers, to be 
thence carried over the mountains, and launched on a stream 
flowing into the Pacific. In estimating the want of geographi- 
cal knowledge which this scheme displayed, we must allow for 
their imperfect resources. The discoveries of Drake and Caven- 
dish could not yet be connected with the eastern side of Ame- 
rica. The impression probably was, that the moderate breadth 
of the continent in Mexico would be prolonged northwards ; 
while in point of fact the idea of wealth attached to the South 
Sea was founded on vague and illusory associations. Its shores 
in Mexico and Peru were indeed rich in the precious metals ; 
but this afforded no presumption as to what might be the pro- 
ductions of a more northern latitude. As, in furtherance of this 
object, Powhatan's favour was to be courted, there had been 
sent handsome presents, with materials to crown him with splen- 
dour in the European style. Smith viewed the Pacific and the 
coronation of Powhatan as alike absurd ; but was obliged to 
yield to Newport, who came with instructions direct from the 



CORONATION OF POWHATAN. 97 

company. With only four companions he courageously re- 
paired to the residence of the monarch, inviting him to come 
and be crowned at Jamestown. The party were extremely 
well received, though once they heard in the adjoining woods 
outcries so hideous as made them flee to their arms ; but Poca- 
hontas assured them that they had nothing to fear. Accord- 
ingly, there issued thence thirty damsels of such strange aspect 
that he uncourteously terms them fiends. They were covered 
only with green leaves bedaubed with shining colours, the 
leader wearing on her forehead a pair of stag's horns. For an 
hour they danced round the fire, with wild shouts and strange 
contortions. They then retired ; and the table was spread with 
an abundance of savage dainties, when the ladies, with whom 
he hoped to have done, rushed in, and, crowding round him, 
lavished compliments with which he would have gladly dis- 
pensed, each calling out, " Love you not me !" When, how- 
ever, the unsophisticated monarch received the invitation, he 
proudly replied, " If your king has sent me presents, I also am 
a king, and this is my land — your father is to come up to me, 
not I to him." 

Newport was not discouraged ; but, taking with him Smith 
and fifty men, repaired to this sylvan court. The coronation 
took place ; but Powhatan appears to have been more surprised 
than delighted. He made a diflSculty even in putting on the 
scarlet dress from a fear of some magical effect. He stren- 
uously objected to kneeling ; on which they long absurdly in- 
sisted, but w^ere obliged to be contented with his merely bend- 
ing the shoulders. A volley fired at the close made him start 
up in alarm, but he soon recovered his composure. 

The king assured them that all their ideas of a salt water be- 
yond the mountains were erroneous, and refused guides for so 
wild a search. Newport, however, goaded probably by his em- 
ployers, set out, leaving Smith at Jamestown. The party as- 
cended to the Falls, and even forty miles farther by land. 
Finding, however, provisions scanty, and their toils always in- 
9 



98 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

creasing, they commenced a retreat before they had reached the 
Alleghany. They returned to the town, oppressed " with toil, 
famine, and discontent ;" and the chimera of the South Sea w^as 
finally relinquished. 

Meantime events occurred at home deeply affecting the in- 
terests of the colony. Although the company had been disap- 
pointed of their expected returns, the accounts of the extent, 
beauty, and fertility of the regions just discovered, kindled in 
that enterprising age an extraordinary enthusiasm. Pamphlets 
were published, apparently on high authority, painting it as 
completely an earthly paradise. On a larger scale, and under 
more enlightened views, it was hoped that the errors which had 
cramped its progress would be avoided. Many distinguished 
individuals were ready to embark their fortunes in this enter- 
prise ; and, with the consent of the old members, the company 
was remodelled on a larger scale, and under a new charter. 
Their territory was augmented from the former one hundred 
miles of coast to four hundred ; being two hundred on each side 
of Cape Comfort ; and it was extended in breadth to the South 
Sea. James, yielding to some influence which does not dis- 
tinctly appear, was induced to waive those high claims of 
sovereignty before so strictly reserved. He allowed the coun- 
cil in England to be chosen by the proprietors, with power to 
nominate a governor. The Episcopal Church was exclusively 
established, and all emigrants required to take the oath of 
supremacy. There appears a peculiar anxiety to exclude Ro- 
man Catholics, respecting whom it is observed, in a pamphlet 
addressed to Sir Thomas Smith, the treasurer, " I would have 
none seasoned with the least taint of that leaven to be settled 
on this plantation, or any part of that country ; but if once 
perceived, such an one, weede him out ; for they will ever be 
plotting and conspiring to root you out if they can ; if you 
will live and prosper, harbour not this viperous broode in your 
bosom." 

The exertions of the patentees, and the general enthusiasm 



ARRIVAL OF NEW COLONISTS. 99 

kindled throughout the nation, enabled the company to equip 
an expedition of nine vessels and five hundred emigrants. Lord 
Delaware, distinguished by his talents and virtues, was named 
governor for life ; and as he could not depart immediately. Sir 
Thomas Gates and Sir George Summers were to rule in the 
meantime. 

The vessels set sail on the 15th May, 1609, and seven ar- 
rived on the 11th August, at Jamestown ; but unfortunately 
they had encoimtered a violent storm, in which two, having 
on board Gates and Summers, were separated and thrown 
upon the Bermudas. In their absence, Smith justly claimed 
the rule ; but many of the new-comers, being bankrupts, spend- 
thrifts, or others sent for doing no good at home, w^ere in- 
disposed to obey him. For some time total anarchy reigned ; 
but its evils at length became so great, that he was entreated 
to resume the government. He exerted himself to locate ad- 
vantageously the emigrants, of w^hom two parties, one hun- 
dred and tw^enty each, w^ere settled at Nansemond, and at the 
Falls of James River. Both, however, mismanaged their af- 
fairs, quarrelled with the Indians, and lost a number of their 
men ; while they rejected all his eiforts to remedy these disor- 
ders. In returning from the latter place, a bag of gunpowder 
burst and severely mangled his person, so that he reached home 
in extreme torture. Here he was told that plots were forming 
against his hfe. Unable in his debilitated state to struggle 
against so many difficulties, he returned to England, quitting for 
ever the colony which had been so much indebted to him. He 
received at home neither honours nor rewards. The company, 
prepossessed by his numerous enemies, complained that he had 
brought no wealth into their coffers, and had acted severely to- 
w^ards the Indians. Posterity has done him justice, perhaps 
somewhat beyond his merits. His bold and active spirit, with 
sound practical judgment, eminently qualified him for the sta- 
tion ; though, being somewhat hot and uncompromising in his 
temper, he excited bitter enmities. A concihatory disposition 



100 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

and persuasive powers were, in such a situation, almost indis- 
pensable to render his exertions effective. His conduct to- 
wards the Indians was in general culpable, and by the hostility 
which it created, neutralized in a great measure his eminent 
services. 

His eulogium, however, was found in the state of the colony 
after his departure. Only about thirty or forty acres were cul- 
tivated ; the ships had brought grain in limited quantity, and 
much spoiled during the unfortunate voyage. The Indians, no 
longer overawed by the late president, not only refused victuals, 
but killed many settlers. Thus there ensued a dreadful famine, 
long fearfully remembered under the name of the " Starving 
Time." Many were impelled to the horrid resource of devour- 
ing the bodies of the dead ; nay, there are dark imputations of 
murder committed under this fearful impulse. Vessels sent 
along the rivers were either sunk, or the crews beaten by the 
savages. Virginia seemed a devoted soil. Of the flourishing 
colony of five hundred persons, there remained only sixty 
" most miserable and poor creatures." After a large expendi- 
ture, and successive arrivals of emigrants, it had returned al- 
most into its original insignificance. 

Meantime, Gates and Summers, after their calamitous ship- 
wreck upon the Bermudas, being delighted with the fine climate 
and the soil of those islands, employed the w^inter in forming a 
settlement there, and surveying the coasts. Although dis- 
tracted by several violent mutinies, they succeeded in fitting 
out a pinnace and sailing to Jamestown. They arrived in the 
month of May ; but what was their disappointment, when, in- 
stead of repose and refreshment, they discovered such extreme 
misery. Their scanty stock was now the only support of the 
settlers, who, in four days, must have been completely famished. 
The Indians, holding the fort closely blockaded, and cutting 
down every European that ventured beyond its precincts, pre- 
cluded all hope of supply. In this extremity no resource ap- 
peared to remain but to embark for Newfoundland, and among 



ARRIVAL OF LORD DELAWARE. 101 

the fishing-vessels there find the means of transportation to 
England. This determination was received with loud shouts 
and acclamations. By the 6th of June, the preparations were 
completed, the whole colony was on board, and had begun to 
move down the river, when a long-boat was met ascending. 
This proved the precursor of three ships under Lord Dela- 
ware, who came with a reinforcement and large supplies, to 
take the command. Their arrival seeming a special interpo- 
sition of Providence, the colonists cheerfully resumed their 
station. 

His lordship made great exertions to redeem the affairs of 
the settlement. The very subjection to one individual so high 
in character and rank as to preclude rivalry, terminated many 
causes of disorder. Summers went for provisions to the Ber- 
mudas, and Gates to England ; but an evil destiny seemed still 
to beset Virginia. This excellent nobleman, from whom so 
much was hoped, w^as by his own statement immediately seized 
with a severe ague, followed by a flux, and his physician warned 
him, that if he remained twenty days longer his health would 
be entirely ruined. He was therefore obliged to return home, 
leaving Percy in the command. Sir Thomas Dale, who soon 
after arrived w^ith fresh men and supplies, introduced martial 
law ; a code- peculiarly abhorrent to the feelings of freemen. It 
was perhaps necessary to quell the lawless spirits that had 
caused such terrible disorders ; and he administered it with a 
moderation which prevented any serious clamour. 

The company, meantime, strictly interrogated Gates and Dela- 
ware as to what really w^ere their prospects from a colony in 
which such large funds had been invested. They gave reports 
most decidedly favourable. His lordship, in a letter addressed 
to the council, declared the land to be wonderfully fertile in 
corn and wine, as well as adapted for the rearing of cattle. 
There were two hundred colonists mostly in good health ; and 
there would be no want of anything, if the action could be up- 
held with constancy. He was ready to lay out upon it all he 
9* 



102 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

was worth, and to return as soon as he conveniently could. A 
determination was thereupon formed to persevere, which the 
king anxiously seconded. He made to them soon after an ad- 
ditional grant of the Bermudas, the flattering descriptions of 
which had strongly impressed the public mind. He allowed 
them the more solid benefit of opening a lottery, which, in about 
ten years, produced 29,000/., and was called " the real food by 
which Virginia had been nourished.^' It excited, however, 
much complaint; and James, on the remonstrances of parlia- 
ment, at length closed it. 

Gates was now sent as governor with six ships, three hundred 
emigrants, and one hundred cattle, when Dale, with part of 
the new-comers, went up the river, and formed the settlement 
of Henrico, named in honour of the Prince of Wales. An in- 
teresting event terminated the long hostility with the native 
tribes. Argall, an enterprising naval commander, contrived, 
through an Indian who had become his sworn friend, to inveigle 
on board his vessel the fair Princess Pocahontas. Regardless 
of her tears and entreaties, he conveyed her to Jamestown, 
where she was well treated ; but, in a negotiation for her ran- 
som, exorbitant terms were demanded, which her father indig- 
nantly rejected, and the breach seemed only widened. Happily, 
the chains of the princess' captivity were lightened by others 
of a more pleasing nature. Mr. John Rolfe, a respectable 
young man, was smitten with her dignified demeanour, and 
found no difficulty in gaining her affections. Some apprehen- 
sion was felt how his proposal of marriage might be received by 
the proud and savage parent ; but he expressed himself quite 
delighted, and thereupon entered into a treaty of amity, which he 
never violated. Though he did not choose to come himself, his 
brother and son were present at the nuptials. Sir Thomas 
takes the credit of having already made her a Christian ; while 
Rolfe talks of that as still to be done. However, she was 
finally converted, and baptized under the name of Rebecca, to 
which the English prefixed the title of Lady ; and her subse- 



POCAHONTAS IN ENGLAND. 



103 




Capture of Pocahontas. 



quent conduct is said to have adorned her profession. Soon 
after, in company with her husband, she visited England. 
Smith wrote a letter to her majesty, recounting her good deeds, 
declaring that she had a great spirit, though a low stature, and 
beseeching for her a reception corresponding to her rank and 
merits. She was accordingly introduced at court, and into the 
circles of fashion, where, as a novelty, she was for some time 
the leading object, and is said to have deported herself with 
suitable grace and dignity. 

James took an absurd apprehension that Rolfe, on the ground 
of his wife's birth, might advance a claim to the crown of Vir- 
ginia. This idea, however, being at length driven out of his 
mind, he appointed him secretary and recorder-general of the 
colony. The princess, early in 1617, went to embark at Graves- 



104 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

end ; but Providence had not destined that she should revisit 
her native shore. She was there seized with an illness which 
carried her off in a few days ; and her last hours are said to 
have extremely edified the spectators, being full of Christian re- 
signation and hope. She had left a son in the colony, whose off- 
spring, carefully traced, is now numerous, and this descent is the 
boast of many Virginian families. 

About this time a treaty was attempted with Powhatan for 
the marriage of a second daughter ; but though he expressed 
an earnest wish to maintain friendship with the English, he 
made apologies, and at length frankly owned, that though ready 
to give any other pledge of peace, he could not resolve to part 
with both his darling children. Notwithstanding the example 
of Rolfe, and the scarcity of females in the settlement, inter- 
marriage between the races never became at all general. 

Under Gates and Dale, the colony at length began to take a 
regular form, and to advance in prosperity. Hitherto it had 
been conducted on the unhappy system of each individual labour- 
ing for a public stock, from which he drew his subsistence. It 
was thus reckoned that twenty men were required for what 
could easily have been done by three ; hence in a great measure 
arose those dreadful famines which had nearly exterminated the 
settlers. Now, in the first instance, a spot of ground and a 
month in the year were allowed to each ; and finally, private 
property being completely established, fifty acres were granted 
to such as were able to stock and cultivate them. 

From the first settlement the company had shown the most 
intense anxiety for some production or branch of trade that 
would bring in money. This desirable object was at length at- 
tained by the culture of tobacco, which soon became the staple 
product of the colony. 

In 1616, the colonists had the misfortune to lose Sir Thomas 
Dale, endeared to them by his mild and beneficent administra- 
tion. Sir George Yeardley acted for some time as deputy, when 
Lord Delaware again set sail to assume the command, but un- 



FIRST REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY. 105 

fortunately died on the voyage. The government then devolved 
upon Argall, a brave and successful naval commander, who had 
added some important possessions to the crown. His conduct 
has been described as hasty and tyrannical in the highest degree, 
leaving no security either for life or property. This statement 
appears exaggerated ; his enactments being apparently well 
meant, though too violent. Accustomed to rule on shipboard 
with the powers of martial law, he wished to direct everything 
in the colony as if it had been the deck of a ship of war ; and 
he ignorantly attempted to enforce by statute a higher price for 
tobacco and other colonial staples. No person, on pain of death, 
was to teach an Indian to use fire-arms ; a law which might 
have been useful with a milder penalty. Any one absenting 
himself from church on Sunday was to be a slave during the 
next week ; if a second time, for a month. No body of men 
who had enjoyed any measure of liberty could sit content under 
his arbitrary yoke. The company, besieged with complaints, 
and finding that emigrants were thus deterred, superseded him, 
replacing the management in the hands of Yeardley. 

This interval of despotic rule seems to have had a salutary 
effect in exciting among the colonists a demand for a constitu- 
tion more accordant with their British origin. The company, 
among whom popular ideas had begun to prevail, authorized 
the new governor not only to form a council, but to convene 
delegates, who with them and himself should constitute the first 
representative assembly that met in the western hemisphere. 
They appear to have entered on their functions with activity, 
soliciting that martial law should" be exchanged for the system 
of English jurisprudence, which, in a somewhat courtly strain, 
they expressed a wish to receive from the hands of his majesty. 
They then enacted a number of laws, which, being sent over 
for the approbation of the company, were received by that body 
in a somewhat equivocal manner, who, though they admitted 
that they were very judiciously formed, sanctioned none of 
them. Two years after, that body transmitted a new constitu- 



106 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

tion, so framed as to secure them, in a great measure, against 
any proceeding contrary to their views. The House of Assem- 
bly was to consist of the governor, a council appointed by the 
corporation at home, and two representatives from each borough. 
As this meeting amounted to twenty-one, while the delegates 
from eleven boroughs were twenty-two, the company had only 
to gain one of the latter in order to obtain the full dictation of 
every measure. The assembly could be considered as little 
more than a council, though even in this view it was doubtless 
beneficial. The company, moreover, reserved to itself a nega- 
tive on their decisions ; though in return they granted one to 
the assembly upon their own ordinances. 

Meantime, a remarkable change had taken place in their con- 
stitution. At first all the transactions were carried on by the 
council, the other members being merely summoned occasionally 
to fill up its vacancies. The early disasters and the total ab- 
sence of profit probably excited clamours, which, at its last 
patent in 1611, led to the arrangement that the whole body 
should be convened weekly or even oftener, and decide on all 
afifairs of any importance. In these meetings, attended often 
by two or three hundred, a reforming party arose, who not 
only arraigned various measures, but called for an entire change 
of management as the only effectual remedy for the existing 
evils. After a series of struggles, this faction, early in 1619, 
attained a complete ascendency, which they used to eject Sir 
Thomas Smith, against whom heavy and reiterated complaints 
had been made, from the office of treasurer, and to appoint in 
his stead Sir Edwin Sandysi This officer, seconded by Lord 
Southampton, Sir John Danvers, and other patriotic members, 
began a series of most active exertions for raising the colony 
from its deep depression. After 80,000/. expended in the 
course of twelve years, it contained still not more than six hun- 
dred inhabitants. They published a statement tending to re- 
move the unfavourable effect derived from so many failures. 
The country is described as rich, spacious, and well watered, 



ARRIVAL OF NEW COLONISTS. 107 

" abounding with all God's natural blessings, and too good for 
ill people." But silence is observed with regard to tobacco, 
on which a heavy odium still rested. The iron is described as 
admirable, the timber the finest in the world, and capable of 
yielding in perfection tar, pitch, and ashes. The main hope, 
however, was still placed in silk and wine, the capacity for 
which is said to be perfectly equal to Italy and Persia ; and 
though the attempts hitherto made had failed, they would be re- 
newed with more ample means, skill, and care. To compen- 
sate to the proprietors for the entire want of dividends, and at 
the same time encourage settlement, it was voted that for every 
12/., 10s. of stock, there should be granted one hundred acres, 
and on the occupation of this, a second hundred. Every one 
who should emigrate at his own expense was to receive fifty 
acres, on w^hich, only after a lapse of seven years, he was 
to pay a quit-rent of 12c?. Very advantageous patents were 
granted to those who undertook to convey emigrants, and by 
the exertions of the company, there w^ere despatched in the 
course of 1619, twelve ships of from seventy to three hundred 
and fifty tons, and conveying no few^er than twelve hundred and 
sixty-one persons, being more than double the number actually 
residing. Ninety maidens of unblemished reputation were sent, 
to enable some of the settlers to enjoy the comforts of ma- 
trimony. Next year, a fresh body of eight hundred were de- 
spatched, including one hundred females. In short, during 
1619, and the two following years, there were conveyed thirty- 
five hundred and seventy men and women, with fifteen hundred 
head of cattle, raising the population to more than six times its 
previous number. The limits of settlement were thus extended, 
more than sixty miles along the river ; but the hope of pros- 
perity thereby opened was marred by a dreadful and unexpected 
calamity. 

Ever since the marriage of Pocahontas, the English and na- 
tives had lived in a state of peace, and even of amity. Pow- 
hatan was now dead ; but his successor had expressed the 



108 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

strongest desire to maintain undisturbed the existing harmony. 
Sir Francis Wyatt, sent out as governor in 1621, received in- 
structions to observe strictly all existing treaties ; and the com- 
pany, it appears, proceeded on the principle of occupying no 
lands without previous purchase. Under these circumstances, 
every trace of the former enmity between the two races seemed 
obliterated ; even the prohibition against holding and using fire- 
arms was discontinued ; and the Indians lived in the most fami- 
liar manner, entering at pleasure the houses of the planters. 
Yet, in fact, a fearful change had taken place, and the most fatal 
designs were already secretly formed. The English writers as- 
sert, that there was absolutely nothing to account for or palhate 
their savage purpose ; but it ought to be observed, that the In- 
dians have not been heard for themselves. It was impossible 
for them to view without alarm the large bodies which arrived 
in such rapid succession, rendering the population more dense 
than the original native one ; and as this increase seemed to go 
on without intermission, it would soon give to the foreigners an 
overwhelming superiority. 

With regard to the boast of uniform good treatment, we 
are disposed to suspect, that, amid the miscellaneous multi- 
tude poured into the colony, and hastily settled in places re- 
mote from the seat of government, many may have been guilty 
of violence, or of contempt more intolerable still to proud 
minds. Certain it is, a day w^as fixed on which the whole of 
this dreaded race was to be exterminated from the Virginian 
soil. The utmost kindness, and even fondness, shown to in- 
dividuals was to procure no exemption ; it was to be a na- 
tional doom and deed. The secret, too, was kept with that 
profound dissimulation which so deeply marks savage vengeance. 
Opechancanough, the king, several days before, had declared 
that sooner the skies would fall than his friendship with the 
English be dissolved. They continued, to the last moment, 
visiting, conversing, and holding the most friendly intercourse 
with those whom they were about to slay. There was only 



THE GREAT MASSACRE. 



109 




The Christian Indian discovering the plot of the Massacre. 



one exception, which saved the colony. A gentleman, named 
Pace, had an Indian domestic, whom he had not only treated 
with peculiar kindness, but had converted to the Christian reli- 
gion. Late at night the mandate w^as delivered to him to murder 
his master next day ; instead of w^hich he rose from bed, and 
warned him of the danger. Pace was separated from James- 
town by the river, three miles broad ; but he hastily rose, got 
into a boat, crossed over, and gave the alarm at the govern- 
ment-house. Thence expresses were sent to all places within 
reach ; and thus Henrico and Charles, the only villages, as well 
as the densest cluster of plantations, were saved. But in the 
more remote settlements the storm fell in all its fury. While 
the English, without the slightest suspicion, were busied in their 
usual occupations in the field, house, and garden, the Indians, 
with their own arms, or any edge-tools of which they could 
lay hold, struck them dead before conscious of any danger. 
10 



110 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 




The Great Massacre. 



Amid the general dismay, exaggerated reports were circulated, 
and have even been admitted into respectable narratives. Smith 
states the number of victims at five thousand, while, in a 
pamphlet ascribed to Berkeley, it is rated at two thousand. 
These, however, were hearsay accounts. The company imme- 
diately published a statement furnished from the colony by Ed- 
ward Waterhouse, one of their servants, in which is inserted the 
name of every -sufferer, " that their lawful heirs might claim 
ftie inheritance;" and the whole list does not exceed three 
hundred and forty-seven. This, at a time when there must 
have been in the colony somewhat above four thousand, was 
not a great numerical loss : but it obliged them to relinquish all 
their outer stations, to crowd the plantations inconveniently to- 
gether, and to keep constantly on the watch. In England, the 
dread and horror which the tidings excited for some time with- 
held adventurers. But perhaps the greatest evil consisted in 



EFFECTS OF THE MASSACRE. Ill 

the state of relentless hostility in which it placed them with the 
native tribes. Waterhouse, in terms which we cannot approve, 
represents it as an advantage ; that their hands were thereby 
set at Hberty ; that instead of purchasing waste land at large 
prices, " we may now, by right of war and law of nations, in- 
vade the country and destroy them who sought to destroy us ; 
we shall enjoy their cultivated places, turning the laborious 
mattock into the victorious sword (where both more ease, bene- 
fit, and glory), and possessing the fruits of others' labours." 
The Indians were very unequal to the contest which they had 
barbarously provoked. They had indeed procured a quantity 
of arms and gunpowder ; but they sowed most of the latter, 
expecting it to yield a crop like maize. They wanted imple- 
ments as well as discipline to contend with their civilized ene- 
mies ; and hence by degrees they were either exterminated or 
driven to the westward. 

This event was particularly disastrous to the company, in re- 
ference to a momentous contest in which they were involved at 
home. James soon viewed with an evil eye their numerous 
meetings and warm debates, which were represented to him as 
a seminary for a seditious parliament. This umbrage was 
much increased owing to the ascendency gained by the reform- 
ing party, who were identical with that which in the lower 
house supported popular rights against his prerogative. This 
body, on the expiry of Sir Edwin Sandys' year of service, were 
fully prepared to re-elect him. But on meeting for that pur- 
pose, what was their consternation when there was presented to 
them on the king's part a leet of six, out of which they were 
required to choose a treasurer ! This being declared to be a 
decided violation of their privileges, Lords Pembroke and South- 
ampton undertook to speak to his majesty on the subject. They 
found that his main objection was pointed against the present 
treasurer ; and he at last ungraciously waived every other point, 

saying " Choose the d 1, if you please, but not Sir Edwin 

Sandys." This being reported at the next meeting, the com- 



112 ^ SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

pany " were in the height of discontent," and a collision with 
the crown seemed inevitable, when Sir John Danvers drew 
aside Lord Southampton, and dealt with him " to own the 
place." His lordship said he knew he would thus incur his 
sovereign's severe displeasure ; but in order that this pious and 
glorious work might be encouraged, they might do with him 
what they pleased. His high character secured his immediate 
election, and he made extraordinary exertions for the improve- 
ment of the colony. Both he and Sandys, however, were soon 
after committed to the Tower, when Danvers succeeded as trea- 
surer. At the same time, James laid the most exorbitant taxes 
on tobacco, which might seem inconsistent with his having so 
vehemently denounced it as odious and pernicious; but he 
argued that, being therefore entitled to banish or burn it, any 
milder course might be considered lenient. Urged, doubtless, 
by his necessities, he at one time offered for 20,000/. to leave 
the entire trade in the hands of the company ; and some of the 
leading members were disposed to have agreed, but the others 
considered the sacrifice too great. 

Being unable to bring the association to his terms, the king 
determined to proceed to extremity against them. A proposal 
was transmitted to them to surrender their charter and receive 
another, according to which he should appoint all the principal 
officers, and exercise the whole real power. This blow was so i 
unexpected, that the members could not believe their own ears, 
and caused the letter to be read three times over. They theni| 
remained for some time unable to utter a word, when at length 
Argall rose, and proposed a compliance with the royal demand. 
It was carried against him by one hundred and twelve to eight ; 
and an extraordinary general court being soon after called, al- 
though many absented themselves, there was still a majority on i 
this side of seventy to nine. The monarch, however, being de-- 
termined to carry his point, raised against them a writ of quo i 
warranto. Their books and papery were seized, and a commis-- 
sion sent out to Virginia, professedly to investigate, but really 



CONDUCT OF THE KING. 113 

to collect evidence against this devoted body. Many great 
abuses had distinguished its early management ; and, though 
these had been almost entirely reformed, the public did not very 
nicely discriminate. The only recent reproach had been the 
want of precaution against the Indians, which belonged rather 
to the local than to the home administration ; yet the calamity 
had been so direful as to create a feeling against the whole. 
Smith, indignant at perhaps unmerited neglect, gave his testi- 
mony against them. Finally, the courts, composed then of 
judges removable by the crown, passed, in June, 1624, a sen- 
tence declaring the charter forfeited. 

His majesty in this whole transaction appears to have been 
actuated by nothing but avarice and the love of power. He 
attacked the company, not during their early misconduct, but 
when, having renovated themselves, they had commenced a 
career of patriotic exertion, and he leagued himself with Sir 
Thomas Smith and others, the real authors of these abuses. 
Generally, indeed, a royal administration is better calculated to 
direct a rising colony, than a commercial company, always in- 
tent on present profit. Yet Virginia would probably have 
benefited by a few more years of the zealous exertions made by 
the late council. 

It has been asserted by Mr. Chalmers, and generally believed, 
that James abolished all the franchises of Virginia ; but Mr. 
Bancroft's careful researches seem to prove that there was no 
constitutional change. The assemblies remained as before ; and 
as the boroughs increased with the population, this independent 
part rose into greater importance. Wyatt was continued in 
office, and a council appointed with great impartiality. They 
were referred for their rule of conduct to the precedent of the 
last five years, which Mr. Chalmers thoughtlessly calls a period 
of the greatest tyranny ; whereas it was that during which a 
representative government had been granted and the colony 
every way well governed. 

The sovereign continued to secure tobacco against rivalry in 
10* 



114 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

Britain ; but he prohibited its exportation, and had made ar- 
rangements for confining the whole trade to his agents, who 
w^ere to receive the produce at a stipulated price, and retail it 
for him, — a project w^hich was arrested by his death on the 27th 
March, 1625. He left behind him an equivocal and rather low 
reputation ; yet his zeal for the promotion of colonial interests 
appears to have been sincere, and formed perhaps the best trait 
in his character. 

Charles I. inherited the arbitrary principles of his father, but 
with a mild though somewhat unsteady disposition. He appears 
never to have thought of altering the Virginian constitution ; 
and, on the death of Wyatt, appointed Sir George Yeardley, a 
highly popular governor. He endeavoured, however, to follow 
up the tobacco monopoly ; but, through a strong remonstrance, 
signed by the governor, five of the council, and thirty-one bur- 
gesses, he W'as induced to desist. On the death of Yeardley in 
1627, the council elected, successively, West and Pott, as in- 
terim-governors. 

In 1629, John Harvey was sent out by Charles, with a con- 
siderable number of emigrants, though under unfiivourable aus- 
pices, having been distinguished as an enemy to the late popular 
managers. Historians, in general, have represented this govern- 
ment as one of unmixed tyranny. " Under him," says Chalmers, 
" the Virginians seem to have been ruled rather as the vassals of 
an eastern despot, than as the subjects of the King of England. 
They were governed as a conquered people, without either 
moderation, or good humour, or justice." Yet, Mr. Bancroft, 
by reference to the statute-book, has ascertained that the charge 
of levying taxes \vithout a representative sanction is unfounded, 
- — the assembly having regularly met during the w^hole period 
of his administration. The chief complaints are a rigid exac- 
tion of certain fines, and a haughty demeanour towards the 
council ; and it was by them, not the people, that in 1636, he 
was sent to England, loaded with heavy charges. Charles 
would not even admit his accusers to an audience ; and, though 



BERKELEY APPOINTED GOVERNOR. 



115 




Arrest of Harvey. 



this was doubtless prompted by his high notions of prerogative, 
yet, as his temper was humane, it becomes the more improba- 
ble that the alleged crimes were very atrocious. Harvey re- 
turned triumphant, and continued in office more than two years, 
when he was succeeded by Sir Francis Wyatt. The latter, 
after two years more, yielded the place to Sir William Berkeley, 
who assumed the government in February, 1642. 

Berkeley has been generally panegyrized as the greatest 
benefactor of Virginia, and the most perfect model of a colonial 
ruler. We find some difficulty in discovering wherein this 
superlative excellence consisted. In religion, he was a com- 
plete bigot to the Church of England, and by prohibiting every 
other form of worship, drove or kept thousands out of the 
settlement. He opposed the most determined resistance to the 
diffusion of knowledge, even in its most elementary form, say- 
ing, " Thank God, there are no free schools, nor printing, and 
I hope w^e shall not have these hundred years ; for learning has 
brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects, into the world ; 
and printing has divulged them and libels against the best 
government. God keep us from both." He no doubt show^ed 
a laudable anxiety for the physical well-being of the people, 



116 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

yet he appears to have carried to excess the reigning antipathy 
to tobacco, devoting his efforts wholly to the production of silk, 
wine, glass, ashes, and similar articles, which the circumstances 
of the colony rendered premature. All his views, indeed, were 
shared by the leading men in the plantation, and standing fore- 
most in support of their errors, he obtained their applause. 
His popularity appears to have been aided by mild and concilia- 
tory manners. Mr. Bancroft, however, has clearly shown, in 
opposition to Chalmers, and even to Story, that he carried out 
no new franchises ; and that the representative assembly, which 
he is described as having restored, had never ceased to meet. 

Ever since the dreadful massacre of 1622, a vindictive w^ar- 
fare had been waged with the Indians, chiefly by predatory in- 
cursions into their territory ; and in the year 1643, the assem- 
bly voted that no terms of peace with them should be enter- 
tained. That unfortunate people, driven to despair, again en- 
tered into a general confederacy, hoping, by a sudden attack, to 
cut off the hated race who had seized their lands. This step 
could not now be reproached with treachery, nor could suspi- 
cion be lulled by professions of friendship ; yet through their 
habits of deep dissimulation, they, in some degree, effected a 
surprise. About three hundred colonists were killed ; but as 
soon as the main body were roused, the savage assailants were 
completely defeated, pursued into their own country, and Ope- 
chancanough, their king, taken prisoner. Though well treated, 
he felt indignant at the multitudes who w^ere allowed to come 
into his prison, and satisfy their curiosity by viewing his per- 
son ; assuring Berkeley that, had fortune reversed their situa- 
tion, he would not have meanly exhibited his captive as a show. 
A brutal soldier put an end to his life by shooting him in the 
back; and the Indians were now so far overawed, that the 
governor, in 1646, could impose a treaty, including an extensive 
cession of territory. A considerable interval of tranquilhty now 
elapsed. 

Meantime, the great civil contest was waged in England, 



LOYALTY OF THE COLONISTS. 



117 




Opechancanough reproving Berkeley. 

^vhich terminated in the death of Charles I., the temporary 
downfall of the throne and aristocracy, and the establishment of 
a republic. These proceedings were in the highest degree dis- 
tasteful to the high church and monarchy men of Virginia. 
They not only decUned all concurrence, but announced a deter- 
mination to resist them at the peril of their lives. On the exe- 
cution of the king, his exiled son was immediately proclaimed 
sovereign, and his rule continued in the American colony, after 
it had "ceased in every part of his European dominions. He 
forwarded to Sir WilUam Berkeley a fresh commission, authoriz- 



118 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

ing him to erect fortifications ; and, in return, that governor 
transmitted to Charles assurances of the most ardent zeal for 
his house, and hinted an invitation that he should take up his 
residence in the New World. 

The leaders of the Long Parliament, statesmen of the highest 
vigour, and flushed with their signal triumph, w^ere not likely to 
allow their power to be braved by an infant colony beyond the 
seas. In 1650, a memorable ordinance was passed, in which . 
this republican body laid down maxims, afterwards considered I 
so tyrannical as to drive all America into rebellion and separa- 
tion. It recited, " that colonies planted at the cost of and 
settled by the people and by the authority of this nation, are 
and ought to be subordinate to and dependent upon England ; 
that they ever have been and ought to be subject to such laws 
and regulations as are or shall be made by the parliament." 
Proceeding still farther, on the ground that divers acts of rebel- 
lion had been committed by the Virginians, who had set them- 
selves in opposition to the power of the commonwealth, the 
edict declared them " notorious robbers and traitors," forbade 
all intercourse with them, and authorized the sending of a fleet 
to reduce them to obedience. 

On condition of acknowledging the commonwealth, they w'ere j 
offered a free pardon, and all the privileges now enjoyed by the 
English people; while in case of resistance, war was to be 
waged with unsparing energy, and even th^ Regro slaves and 
indentured servants were to be armed against their masters. In 
pursuance of these instructions. Sir George Ayscue, a distin- 
guished naval commander, was sent out with a strong fleet, 
having on board a body of troops. For the settlement of the 
civil government, five commissioners were nominated, two of 
whom, Bennet and CI ay borne, belonged to Virginia, but had 
distinguished themselves there by opposition to the ruling party. 

In March, 1652, Ayscue anchored in Chesapeake Bay, w^hen 
the colonists, listening to the dictates of prudence rather than 
of heroism, and without drawing a sword, opened a nego- 



BENNET CHOSEN GOVERNOR. 119 

tiation with the invaders. The terms were liberal, chiefly, it 
should seem, because the parliament had no wish to impose 
others. The Virginians obtained a complete amnesty ; they 
were promised a trade as free as that of England, and were 
confirmed in all their political rights. They obtained even a 
new privilege in the election of their own governor ; but that 
this was merely nominal, seems proved by their unanimous 
choice of Bennet, the chief parliamentary commissioner, who, 
for his puritan and republican principles, had shortly before been 
banished from the colony. Bennet appears to have been a 
respectable and moderate man, whose personal wrongs did not 
impel him to any vindictive measures. 

The interests of the colony w^ere more seriously affected 
through an act passed by parliament in 1652, restricting the 
traffic of the colonies to the mother country. This certainly 
appears, as Mr. Graham observes, a breach of the capitulation 
allowing them a trade as free as that of England. We are, 
however, inclined to believe that the restriction was not en- 
forced with great rigour ; and that the advancing prosperity 
of the colony was rather promoted by the new system. It 
put an end to the persecution of the puritans, by which many 
industrious citizens had been driven away ; and, with the ex- 
ception only of the Quakers, complete religious liberty was 
established. 

Bennet, for what reason does not appear, retired from the 
government early in 1655 ; and the assembly supplied his place 
by Edward Diggs, of whom nothing particular is recorded. 
Early in 1658, another vacancy occurred, when the office was 
filled by Samuel Matthews, an old hospitable planter, and " a 
most deserving commonw^ealth's man ;" w^hich last quality, we 
suspect, was still rendered necessary by the dread of Enghsh 
authority. The assembly took advantage, however, of the 
liberal ideas newly introduced to extend their own functions ; 
and they succeeded in ejecting from their sittings the governor 
and council, whose power of voting had greatly restricted their 



120 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

independence. They enlarged the elective franchise, which 
was made to include all freemen ; the indented servants being 
allowed to exercise it at the expiration of their term. They 
obliged the governor to yield the right of dissolving them ; and 
when he threatened an appeal to the supreme tribunal at home, 
they deposed and then re-elected him, on condition of submit- 
ting to their terms. They thus centered in themselves nearly 
all the powers of the state. Finally, taking advantage, we 
suspect, of Cromwell's inattention rather than receiving his 
sanction, they threw open their commerce to all the world. 

On the death of the Protector being announced, the assem- 
bly without hesitation recognised his son Richard, taking pre- 
caution, however, that their newly obtained privileges should not 
be abridged. On receiving the notice of his forced abdication, 
they proved the unaltered state of their political feelings by re- 
calling to the government their old favourite, Sir William 
Berkeley. This, however, says Murray, did not amount, as 
has been sometimes supposed, to a premature recognition of 
Charles II. It was declared by both parties to be merely a 
provisional measure amid the present distractions, and until 
some positive instructions could be received from England. But 
it was a daring step, which would doubtless have drawn down 
the resentment of the republican party, could they have retained 
their power. All apprehensions were removed by the intelli- 
gence of the restoration of the young king, an event which, 
though it made a gloomy impression on other colonies, was re- 
ceived here with the highest exultation. Berkeley, with gen- 
eral consent, exercised his functions of governor under the 
royal commission. In his majesty's name he called an assem- 
bly, the composition of which clearly showed that the general 
will had not before been fully -represented, since, of the mem- 
bers of the preceding parliament, only eight were re-elected. 

The aristocratic rule was thus fully restored ; but its in- 
fluence in many respects was not auspicious. The exclusive 
establishment of the English Church, and the persecution of 



THE NAVIGATION ACT. 121 

dissenters, which had deprived the country of so many valuable 
citizens, were renewed in all their rigour. The suffrage, which 
under the commonwealth had been made universal, was limited 
now to freeholders and householders, leaving the range still suf- 
ficiently wide. A more serious innovation respected the period 
of sitting, which had been made biennial, and was not indeed 
altered by law ; but the assembly actually prolonged its own 
duration for ten or twelve successive years, and showed even 
then no intention of dissolving, had circumstances not compel- 
led them. All means of instructing and enlightening the peo- 
ple were systematically discouraged. 

The restoration exposed the colonists to another great evil, 
which they seemed to have little reason to apprehend. The 
Navigation Act, passed under the commonwealth, limiting their 
commerce to the mother country, had been much evaded, and 
latterly altogether disregarded. Its provisions, however, were 
now re-enacted with increased rigour, and with strict rules for 
their enforcement ; and the merchants of England, imbued with 
the erroneous notions then prevalent respecting the advantages 
derivable from such monopolies, used all their influence in its 
support. Even Charles showed a zeal on the subject which 
could scarcely have been expected from his careless temper. 
The Virginians requested Berkeley to repair to London and 
plead their cause, which he seems to have done zealously. He 
represented the low state to which the colony was reduced by the 
depression in the price of tobacco, their only exportable staple ; 
wine and silk having hitherto failed. At present, it could ill 
afford the 40,000/. which the monopoly cost, and all of which 
went to enrich a few English merchants. He urged, with or 
without reason, that while the turbulent New Englanders hesi- 
tated not to evade or disregard these regulations, the loyal Vir- 
ginians submitted, and became the victims of their obedience. 
All these arguments were vainly urged to a nation and sovereign 
who regarded the measure with such fond partiality. 

An internal cause still more cruelly interrupted the success of 
11 



122 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

the colony. The Indians, once so hostile, had for a long time 
been overawed or conciliated ; but the Susquehannas, a singu- 
larly fierce tribe, having been driven from the north by the Five 
Nations, began to commit depredations upon the frontiers. The 
colonists on the border, possessing doubtless much of the law- 
less character of back-settlers, violently retaliated. Six chiefs, 
sent by the Indians to treat for peace, were seized and put to 
death ; and the just indignation expressed by Berkeley at this 
outrage gave great offence. After war had raged some time, 
that people again made pacific overtures, but without success. 
The governor, however, endeavoured to second their object, and 
to mitigate the ferocious spirit which now animated the colo- 
nists. These humane efforts were adverse to their present dis- 
position, and lost to him that popularity which he had so long 
enjoyed, while his views and even his errors were in unison with 
theirs. The consequences soon proved disastrous. 

Nathaniel Bacon, son of a respectable family in Suffolk, car- 
ried out the unusual fortune of 1800/., and, possessing an un- 
common share of address, eloquence, and intelligence, acquired 
great influence and a seat in the council. Having formed a 
border plantation on the upper part of James river, he found 
the war raging with the Indians, who carried it on with their 
usual cruelties. Ill-informed perhaps of the wTongs by w^hich 
they had been impelled, he sympathized with the sufferings of 
his countrymen, and entertained an eager desire for revenge. 
A farm of his own being attacked, and the servants killed, he 
took up arms without the knowledge of Berkeley, and rallying 
round him all inspired by similar sentiments, was soon at the 
head of five hundred men. The governor denounced this arma- 
ment as rebellious, and issued a mandate to disperse, which was 
partly obeyed. His attention w^as distracted, however, by a 
rising of the popular party in the lower province, to resist the 
aristocratic ascendant. The two interests became united ; and 
the government, unable to resist, were obliged to agree that 
the assembly, having now sat an exorbitant time, should be dis- 



BACON'S REBELLION. 123 

solved, and a new one elected. The result was entirely on the 
popular side ; universal suffrage was restored ; all arbitrary- 
taxation abolished ; and various abuses suppressed, though with- 
out any vindictive proceedings against their authors. 

Bacon had at first been made prisoner ; but on so strong a 
manifestation of the assembly's will, he was set at Hberty, and 
even promised a commission ; but this was ultimately refused. 
He then secretly withdrew, and assembled five or six hundred 
men, with whom he became complete master of the govern- 
ment. Sir William strenuously resisted ; and, with the bold- 
ness of an old cavalier, bared his breast to the adversary, say- 
ing, " A fair mark — shoot I" Bacon declared they did not 
wish to hurt a hair of his head, but only desired a commission 
to save their lives from the Indians. The authority was granted 
to him, and he marched to the frontier. 

As soon, however, as the immediate pressure was removed, the 
governor, rashly, as it should seem, published a proclamation, 
reversing all the proceedings of the assembly, and again declar- 
ing Bacon a traitor. This step immediately kindled a civil war. 
That daring chief marched back towards Jamestown, and was 
joined by numerous adherents of the popular class. The pro- 
perty of the royalists was confiscated, their wives seized, and 
carried along with the troops as hostages ; and these violences 
being retaUated, wide devastation was spread over the country. 
Berkeley, meantime, had assembled in the capital his friends, 
with some seamen landed from vessels in the harbour. Here, 
however, they were soon besieged, and being repulsed in a sally, 
found themselves no match for the hardy borderers. It was 
necessary to evacuate the town during the night, and withdraw 
his entire force to the eastern shore, leaving the whole west in 
possession of the insurgents. 

Bacon now acted entirely as ruler of Virginia, and declaring 
the governor to have abdicated, summoned an assembly in his 
own name. It was determined to resist any attempts from the 
mother country to restore Berkeley to power, and, indeed, the 



124 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

resolution was almost fixed to throw off its yoke altogether. 
As Jamestown might afford a position for establishing an Eng- 
lish force, the violent measure was adopted of devoting it to the 
flames. This was executed with such ruthless determination, 
that the fires being kindled in the night, there remained in the 
morning scarcely a vestige of that original capital, which has 
never again reared its head. Nothing now appeared to remain 
but to cross the river and drive before them the discouraged 
remnant of Berkeley's forces. Suddenly, however, the leader 
sickened, and, after a short illness, died ; a catastrophe that put 
an end to the insurrection, which, after all, had not any deep 
root among the nation. Its temporary success seems to have 
been owing to the union of the border settlers with the popular 
faction ; but the latter, forming still a decided minority, could 
not permanently support it. Several of the leaders attempted 
to stand, but were successively reduced and taken by Beverley, 
an active royalist chief. 

The governor, whose feelings seem throughout the whole 
transaction to have been greatly excited, acted now with exces- 
sive rigour. Twenty persons were hanged, and it is supposed 
that a greater number would have endured the same punish- 
ment, had not the assembly presented an address, entreating 
"that he would spill no more blood." One of the deputies 
said, " had we let him alone, he would have hanged half the 
country." Charles TI., whose disposition was not cruel, ex- 
claimed, " the old fool has taken away more lives than I for the 
murder of my father," and issued a proclamation censuring this 
conduct as derogatory to his clemency. 

Sir William was recalled, and his place temporarily supplied 
by Colonel Jeffereys, who, with two others, constituted a com- 
mission of inquiry. They seem to have made it very searching, 
with even a friendly disposition toward the people. The dif- 
ferent counties were invited to produce statements of grievances, 
and the records of the assembly w^ere forced from their clerk, 
— a measure against which they strongly remonstrated. A re- 



CULPEPER APPOINTED GOVERNOR. 125 

port was drawn up, in which, while the conduct of the insur- 
gents was strongly condemned, that of the government and 
several members of the council was also censured. These re- 
flections against Berkeley are supposed to have hastened his 
death, which took place before he had an inteiview with the 
king. The assembly then felt a revival of their old attach- 
ment. They passed a vote, declaring, that he had been an ex- 
cellent governor, and recommended a grant to Lady Berkeley 
of 300/. JefFereys, during his short administration, had the 
satisfaction of putting an end, on approved terms, to the Indian 
war. 

We must now mention, that in 1649, after the death of 
Charles I., several royalist noblemen had obtained a grant of 
the territory between the Rappahannock and the Potomac, 
called the Northern Neck of Virginia, with the view of mak- 
ing it a place of refuge for their adherents. This donation, 
owing to the ruin of their cause, did not then take effect ; and 
in 1669, the owners sold their rights to Lords Culpeper and 
Arlington. The former, in 1673, procured also from the 
thoughtless monarch a lease for thirty-one years of the quit- 
rents, escheats, and other casualties, of all Virginia. The colo- 
nists sent a deputation, strenuously to remonstrate against this 
arrangement, as interfering with the actual state of property 
and occupation ; but though they received favourable promises, 
they did not ultimately succeed. On the contrary, Charles now 
granted a patent to Culpeper as governor for life ; who, aim- 
ing only at gain, was in no haste to take possession of so trou- 
bled a country, and went at last only in obedience to an urgent 
mandate from the king. 

The colony was found tolerably quiet, and a general amnesty 
was proclaimed, with very few exceptions. Penalties were 
enacted against those who should defame the administration, 
propagate false news, and maliciously stir up the people against 
the governor. Limits were set to the popular composition of 
the assembly, as well as to the frequency and duration of its 
11* 



126 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

sittings. An appeal from the courts, hitherto allowed to that 
body, was now vested solely in the crown. After all, the 
severest suffering arose from the extremely low price still 
brought by tobacco ; and hence the desperate expedient was 
imagined, of entirely suspending its cultivation for a year. 
The assembly passed an act to that effect, which was negatived 
by the crown ; yet so bent were the colonists upon it, that they 
formed an association to destroy all that was planted within the 
period. This spirit rose to a sort of rebellion, and was put 
down only by some severe examples. An act was also passed 
to promote cohabitation, or the formation of towns, with a 
view to establish manufactures. This was a premature attempt 
to force a branch for which the country was by no means ripe ; 
yet the negative on it from England, being inspired probably 
by monopohzing views, caused great discontent. 

Culpeper was avaricious and unpopular. He raised his 
own allowance to an exorbitant height ; he altered the value 
of the coin ; he appeared to dislike the settlement as a residence, 
making only two short compulsory visits. He enforced also in 
a grasping manner his proprietory patent. Heavy complaints 
were sent home, to which Charles, who regretted perhaps hav- 
ing parted with so much power, not unwillingly listened. His 
commission as governor was subjected to the decision of a jury 
of Middlesex, who declared it forfeited. Virginia became again 
a royal colony, and no future ruler held his office except at the 
pleasure of the crown. 

Lord Howard of Effingham, who succeeded, did not render 
himself more acceptable, being accused of studying profit still 
more devotedly, and of securing it by the meanest practices. 
He established a Court of Chancery with exhorbitant fees, and 
is alleged to have shared the emoluments of this and other de- 
partments with his own clerks. He carried with him very ar- 
bitrary instructions against printing, and for the enforcement 
of the Navigation Act, which had begun to be relaxed. He 
terminated, however, an Indian war ; the assembly passed 



NICHOLSON'S GOVERNMENT. 127 

some useful laws, and though, from the low price of its staple, 
w^ealth did not flow in, the population probably continued to 
multiply. 

James II. continued Lord Effingham, and of course his arbi- 
trary system. Yet his declarations in favour of toleration, 
though made for the interest of the Catholics, procured some re- 
lief to the oppressions endured by the dissenters. A casual ad- 
vantage arose from the excessive rigour against the adherents 
of Monmouth. When Jefferies and Kirke had sated themselves 
with blood, a number of minor offenders were adjudged to ser- 
vitude in Virginia for ten years. The courtiers eagerly con- 
tended for lots of these exiles, who made a valuable addi- 
tion to the population ; and after the Revolution, they received 
a pardon. 

Effingham, apparently disgusted with the discontent of the 
people, returned to England in 1688, followed by Philip Lud- 
well, who, as agent for the assembly, brought heavy charges 
against him. These fell under the cognizance of William III.; 
but that monarch, being, for the colonies by no means popularly 
inclined, determined mostly in his favour. He was reinstated, 
on condition, however, of exercising his functions by a deputy, 
Colonel Nicholson. The latter was furnished with very arbi- 
trary instructions, and desired even to avoid if possible the call- 
ing of an assembly. But, being an intelligent man, he soon 
saw that this was out of the question, and summoned one with 
a good grace. Many of the colonists were gaily disposed, 
and he instituted races and trials of skill in shooting, wrestling, 
and other exercises, wdth which they were highly gratified. 
Finding also a laudable desire to emerge out of the profound 
ignorance in which they had been so studiously kept, he pro- 
vided a royal donative for the foundation of a college named 
William and Mary. This seminary, the first established in the 
southern settlements, excited an intense interest, and persons 
crowded from all the neighbouring colonies to witness its open- 
ing. He seconded also for some time their favourite scheme of 



128 SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

cohabitation and manufactures, but was obliged to desist by 
orders from home. 

In 1692, the government was conferred on Sir Edward An- 
dros, while Nicholson went as his heutenant to Maryland. 
This appointment on the part of Wilham w^as little exj ected, 
the deputy having had in New England the reputation of an 
oppressive tool of the despotism of James. His arrival accord- 
ingly excited the most sinister apprehensions, which were hap- 
pily disappointed. Being a man of sense and ability, he ac- 
commodated himself to changed circumstances, pursued the 
course of his predecessor with more judgment, and enjoyed still 
greater popularity. In six years he was recalled, and the colo- 
nists again got Nicholson ; but a very unfavourable change had 
taken place in his character. Of a bold and aspiring disposi- 
tion, he had formed the plan of a general combination of the 
colonies for mutual defence. A pecuniary contingent was to 
be paid by each, to be placed at the king's disposal for main- 
taining troops and erecting forts. This plan obtained the 
hearty consent of William, and the governor, hoping to be 
placed at its head, most zealously promoted it. He was deeply- 
disappointed when the assembly met it by an unquahfied rejec- 
tion. He induced the king to recommend the measure to them, 
but without effect, and his majesty did not choose to take any 
stronger course. 

Nicholson, completely chagrined, took every opportunity of 
representing the Virginians in an unfavourable light, and re- 
commending an abridgment of their liberties. He described 
them to the ministers of Anne as imbued with " republican no- 
tions and principles, such as ought to be corrected, and lowered 
in time;" complaining that "those wrong pernicious notions 
were improving daily, not only in Virginia, but in all her ma- 
jesty's other governments." In subsequent memorials, he sug- 
gested that all the American colonies should be reduced under 
one viceroy, and a standing army maintained. But though 
jealous feelings were thus infused, the English ministers were 



SPOTSWOOD'S EXPEDITION. 129 

not rash enough to involve themselves in such a scheme ; and, 
in 1704, Nicholson was recalled. 

He was succeeded by the Earl of Orkney, who held the office 
thirty-six years, but merely as a sinecure. He or the ministers, 
however, were happy in their settlement of deputies. Edward 
Nott, the first, and still more, his successor, Alexander Spots- 
wood, gave the highest satisfaction. The latter not only pro- 
moted internal improvement, but undertook an expedition to the 
w^estward of the Alleghany. This barrier, after numerous ob- 
stacles, was passed, though no settlements were yet attempted. 
He, however, strongly recommended the formation of a chain 
of forts along this frontier, to keep in check the encroachments 
of the French from Canada and Louisiana ; but the government 
were not disposed to spend large sums in guarding against a 
danger so little imminent. 

Virginia, from this period till the peace of 1763, enjoyed an 
uninterrupted prosperity, with so few internal vicissitudes that 
they have escaped the notice of history. She was engaged in 
military operations against the French and their Indian allies ; 
but as these were common to the whole range of states, we pre- 
fer to make them with some other matters the subject of a 
general chapter. 





George Calvert, First Lord Baltimore. 




CHAPTER V. 

SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 



HOUGH the colonization of Maryland took 
place at a later period than that of New Eng- 
land, its relations with Virginia are so close, that 
these colonies will be best considered in con- 



nexion with each other. 



(130) 



ARRIVAL OF CALVERT. 131 

The Virginian company, by their second charter, had assigned 
to them a region of vast extent, including, doubtless, the heads 
of the great Bays of Delaware and Chesapeake. This grant, 
we have seen, was forfeited ; yet the colonists continued anxi- 
ously to claim and consider the whole as Virginia, though their 
title could not stand against the regal power influenced by 
the solicitations of a favourite. Sir George Calvert had been 
secretary of state under James I., but having become a convert 
to the Romish religion, he was excluded from office, and seems 
thenceforth to have directed his ambition wholly to colonial en- 
terprise. The change had not withdrawn the court favour, 
particularly of Charles I. and his queen Henrietta Maria. He 
therefore easily obtained a liberal grant in Newfoundland, which 
he made great exertions to settle and improve ; but finding his 
expectations fallacious, he was attracted by the much more 
promising territory on the Chesapeake, and actually went out 
thither to negotiate arrangements for a colony. Virginia*", as 
we have already seen, was established on a system of complete 
religious exclusion ; so that immediately on his arrival the oath 
of supremacy was tendered him, w^hich induced his speedy de- 
parture. He possessed, nevertheless, in royal influence the 
means not only of securing his own interest, but of avenging 
himself for those hostile proceedings. He obtained from Charles 
the gift of an extensive region which Virginia had fondly 
cherished as her ow^n, extending from the southern bank of the 
Potomac northw^ards to the 40th degree of latitude, and thus 
including the upper part of the Bay of Chesapeake, and the 
whole of that of Delaware. In compliment to the queen, who 
is understood to have warmly seconded his views, it was named 
Maryland. 

The influence and favour enjoyed by Calvert, now created 
Lord Baltimore, are strikingly proved by the terms of the grant. 
Charles, notwithstanding his despotic feelings, reserved neither 
the right of taxation nor of giving laws ; these were to be ex- 
ercised by the proprietor, with the assent of the freemen or 



132 SETTLEMENT 6f MARYLAND. 

their deputies, whose assembly was to be made " in such sort 
and form as to him should seem best." Moreover, in emer- 
gencies, w^hen there was not time to call them together, he 
might of himself make " fit and wholesome ordinances," not 
stated as temporary, but " to be inviolably observed." By a 
very singular clause, meant, it should seem, to blind the public 
at home, he was empowered to found churches and chapels, " ac- 
cording to the ecclesiastical law of England." He might also 
train, muster, and call out troops, exercise all the functions of 
captain-general, and, in case of rebellion or sedition, proclaim 
martial law. He had likewise the nomination of the judges 
and all other officers. Nothing being left to the crown but the 
usual empty claim of the royal mines, Maryland became, what 
indeed the proprietor terms it, a separate monarchy. 

George, the first Lord Baltimore, died before the completion 
of the charter, which was therefore granted to his son Cecil, on 
whom devolved the establishment of the colony. He appears 
to have applied himself to the task with activity and judgment ; 
and states that he spent upon it above 20,000/. from his own 
funds, and an equal sum raised among his friends. Warned 
by Virginian disasters, he avoided from the first all chimerical 
projects, and placed his establishment entirely on an agricultural 
basis. Every one who carried out five persons, male or female, 
paying their expenses, estimated at 20/. each, was to receive 
one thousand acres. Those defraying their own charges got 
one hundred for themselves, and the same for each adult mem- 
ber of their family ; for children under six years, fifty acres. 
The rent was 2s. for each hundred acres. Lord Baltimore did 
not rule in person, nor, so far as we can trace, even visit the 
colony, at least till after the Restoration. Two of his brothers, 
however, acted successively as governors, and died there. 

In November, 1633, Leonard Calvert set sail with the 
first emigrants, consisting of about two hundred persons. In 
February, he touched at Point Comfort, in Virginia, where his 
cU'rival was by no means acceptable; nevertheless Sir John 



CALVERT ENTERS THE POTOMAC. 



133 




Settlement of St. Mary's. 



Harvey, in obedience to the express orders of Charles, gave 
him a courteous reception. Early in March, he entered the 
Potomac, to the people on the shores of which the sight of so 
large a vessel was quite new, and caused the utmost astonish- 
ment. The report was, that a canoe was approaching as big 
as an island, with men standing in it thick as trees in a forest ; 
and they thought with amazement how enormous must have 
been the trunk out of which it had been hollowed. A piece 
of ordnance, resounding for the first time on the shores of this 
mighty river, caused the whole country to tremble. The inter- 
course, however, appears to have been judiciously conducted, 
and was, on the whole, very amicable. Calvert sailed up to 
Piscataqua, an Indian settlement nearly opposite the present site 
of Mount Vernon, where the chief received him with kindness, 
12 



134 SETTLEMENT Of MARYLAND. 

saying, " he would not bid him go, neither would he bid him 
stay ; he might use his own discretion." On reflection, he con- 
sidered the place too far up the river, and therefore the vessel 
was moved down to a tributary named then St. George's, and 
now St. Mary's. Ascending it four leagues, he came to a con- 
siderable Indian town, named Yoacomoco, afterwards called St. 
Mary's by the colonists ; and being hospitably received, as well 
as pleased with the situation, he determined to fix his colony 
there. The Werowannee accepted an invitation on board, and 
Sir John Harvey haviug just arrived from Virginia, the chief 
was led down to the cabin, and seated at dinner between the 
two governors. An alarm having spread among the people on 
shore that he was detained as a prisoner, they made the banks 
echo with shouts of alarm ; the Indian attendants durst not go 
to them, but when he himself appeared on deck, they were 
satisfied. He became so much attached to the English as to 
declare, that if they should kill him he would not wish his death 
avenged, being sure that he must have deserved his fate. Amid 
these dispositions, it was not difficult to negotiate the formation 
of a settlement. For hatchets, hoes, knives, cloth, and other 
articles of probably very small original cost, the strangers not 
only obtained a large tract of land, but w^ere allowed by the 
inhabitants to occupy immediately half of their village, with 
the corn growing adjacent to it, and, at the end of harvest, 
were to receive the whole. Thus were they at once comforta- 
bly established, without those severe hardships which usually 
attend an infant settlement. 

This good understanding was prolonged for a number of 
years ; but at length, in 1642, the emigrants had the usual mis- 
fortune of being involved in a war with the natives. For two 
years they suffered all its distressing and harassing accompani- 
ments, which, in 1644, were happily terminated by a treaty, 
the conditions of which, and some acts of assembly immediately 
following, seem to prove that the evil had arisen entirely from 
the interested proceedings of individuals. The prohibition of 



SETTLEMENT ON KENT ISLAND. 135 

kidnapping the Indians, and of selling arms to them, show the 
existence of these culpable practices. This peace was of long 
duration, and the Maryland government seem on the whole, to 
have acted more laudably towards this race than any other, that 
of Penn excepted. 

The domestic administration was first disturbed by the follow- 
ing painful transaction. Captain William Clayborne, a man of 
large property, and holding high offices in the colonial govern- 
ment, had opened a considerable trade in furs and other articles 
on the upper part of the Chesapeake, and even established a 
settlement on Kent Island, where he expended upwards of 
6000/. The proprietary forthwith called upon him to yield up 
all these establishments, as lying within the range of his patent. 
Clayborne, very little disposed to consent, referred the claim to 
the council of Virginia, who expressed their astonishment that 
it should ever have been even mentioned. The demand cer- 
tainly appears to have been one of extreme hardship. The 
captain some years before had receivea from the king a patent 
for trade, though not indeed for plantation ; but this last object 
was attended with such expense, hazard, and difficulty, that not 
permission merely, but ample encouragement had always been 
considered due to the undertaker. That on Kent Island had 
been fully sanctioned by the local authorities, within whose re- 
cognised limits it then was, and the inhabitants had a right to 
send two burgesses to the assembly. Situated near the opposite 
coast of the Chesapeake, it did not materially interfere with the 
new plantation, and ages must have elapsed before the two 
could come into contact. 

The influence of the proprietary, however, was powerful at 
home. The Virginians, though they obeyed the order to afford 
aid to the new colonists, presented a strong remonstrance on the 
severe discouragement and loss sustained by the severing of so 
fine a portion of their territory, which they had already partly 
occupied. By a sentence of the Star-chamber, however, of 5th 
July, 1633, the members present " did think fit to leave Lord 



136 SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 

Baltimore to his patent, and the other parties to the course of 
law, according to their desire." They ordered, meanwhile, that, 
" things standing as they do,'' the planters on either side shall 
have free traffic and commerce each with the other, — and lastly, 
that " they shall sincerely entertain all good correspondence, 
and assist each other on all occasions, in such manner as be- 
cometh fellow-subjects and members of the same state." Not' 
withstanding this injunction, and another of the same tenor, 
expressly relating to the dispute with Clayborne, his lordship 
determined to proceed to immediate extremities. An act of 
attainder was passed against the other in the Maryland assem- 
bly ; a hostile armament was fitted out ; and the Longtail, a 
merchant vessel belonging to him, was captured, after a contest 
in which the captain and several of the crew were killed. This 
was followed by other encounters ; and at length, by a mid- 
night assault ; the Isle of Kent was carried, and the principal 
planters either made prisoners or forced to seek safety in flight. 

Clayborne, now repairing to England, laid his wTongs before 
the king, when Charles, in a letter to the proprietary, on the 
14th July, 163S, expresses a strong and apparently a just indig- 
nation. He refers to a former order that Clayborne and his 
associates " should in no sort be interrupted in their trade or 
plantation by you, but rather be encouraged to proceed cheer- 
fully in so good a w^ork ;" then adverting to the violences com- 
mitted, commands them to cease, and that no further molesta- 
tion be given to these persons or their agents, till the case 
should be decided. 

On the 4th April, 1639, however, the Commissioners of Plan- 
tations pronounced their decision in a very different tone. They 
state that, by the admission of Clayborne, who was present, 
his patent, which had also been granted only under the great 
seal of Scotland, was exclusively for trade, not for settlement ; 
that the island was admitted by him to be within the hmits of 
Lord Baltimore's patent ; and therefore that he had not the 
slightest claim to either. It concluded, ** concerning the vio- 



DIFFICULTIES WITH CLAYBORNE. 137 

lences and wrongs by the said Clayborne and the rest com- 
plained of, they did now also declare, that they found no cause 
at all to relieve them, but do leave both sides therein to the 
ordinary course of justice." 

By what agency so remarkable a change was effected does 
not fully appear. It is supposed, however, to be owing to the 
fiict that in the great contest between the king and the parlia- 
ment, which was now begun, Clayborne embraced with zeal the 
popular side. 

The most prominent feature in the internal management of the 
colony was the proclamation, made of complete liberty of con- 
science, and worship to all sects, who acknowledged the funda- 
mental truths of Christianity. We have seen that an assembly 
of the people or their deputies was in some shape required by 
the charter ; and this could scarcely have been denied to the 
colonists, after having been sanctioned both in Virginia and 
New^ England. The proprietary, however, had secured the 
powTr of constituting this assembly in any manner he pleased, 
and, moreover, of making laws quite binding, without their con- 
currence. Besides these two clauses, he reserved also the right 
of originating statutes, only requiring the consent of the depu- 
ties. He accordingly prepared and sent over to Maryland a 
complete code, expecting, probably, under the peculiar circum- 
stances, that its acceptance would have been a matter of course. 
But the Marylanders, w^ho showed always a determined zeal 
for their franchises, threw it entirely overboard, and prepared 
another of their owm, w'hich they transmitted for his assent. 
In what spirit it was received is discoverable only from the fact 
that no part ever appeared in the records ; so that it must have 
been wholly rejected, and probably with no little indignation. 
How any adjustment took place between views so widely dis- 
cordant, cannot be distinctly traced ; but the freemen appear to 
have made good their right of originating laws, subject to the 
proprietary's negative. 

In * >38, an act introduced a new form of representative as- 
12* 



13S SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 

sembly, instead of that hitherto formed by the freemen in gen- 
eral. Lord Baltimore, then availing himself of the unlimited 
power givin in the charter, inserted a truly extraordinary clause, 
giving him power to summon his own friends by special writ, 
seemingly without any hmitation of number, to sit and vote 
along with the burgesses. It is obvious that he had thus full 
means of swamping all opposition, and of dictating every mea- 
sure of the assembly. The burgesses, accordingly, soon com- 
plained that they then had not even " a negative," to obtain 
which they demanded, that they should sit in one house, and 
the Baltimore nominees in another. But the proprietary put a 
decided negative on such a change. Under the assembly thus 
modelled, he was granted five per cent, on tobacco exported ; 
and all the inhabitants were required to take an oath of alle- 
giance to him. 

In 1645, an insurrection was raised, when Calvert the gover- 
nor, unable, it should seem, to make even a show of resistance, 
was obliged to flee into Virginia. In about a year and a half, 
the original rule was restored ; though no detail is given of the 
means. An amnesty and other prudent measures restored tran- 
quillity. 

The burgesses, notwithstanding, continued to struggle for 
that division into two houses, by which only they could obtain 
any real legislative power. At last they attained their object, 
though at a time which took away almost all the grace of the 
boon. It was in the fatal year of 1649, when the republican 
party, completely triumphant, had brought Charles to the block, 
and the proprietary was using all his efforts to court or at least 
to sooth its leaders. In 1650, an act was ratified, sanctioning 
this new constitution. 

Lord Baltimore began about this time not only to permit, but 
earnestly to invite protestant settlers from different parts of 
America. One object at least was to fill up the population of 
the colony, which was probably insufficient at the low rents 
exacted to repay the expenses of settlement. It now derived 



SETTLExMENT OF ANNE ARUNDEL. 139 

small supplies from emigration, which, after the commencement 
of the great civil contest, ceased to flow into the western settle- 
ments. The assembly about this time passed an act for peo- 
pling the colony, and this course also tended to conciliate the 
now triumphant puritans at home. The New Englanders, 
however, to whom this invitation was first addressed, " felt no 
temptation that way ;" but the Virginian reformers, compelled 
by the persecutions of Berkeley and the assembly, came in 
large bodies, till, according to the assertion, though probably 
exaggerated, of opposite parties, the Protestant population ex- 
ceeded the Catholic. They occupied the territory north of the 
Patuxent, and formed a new county named Severn or Anne 
Arundel, reaching nearly to the modern site of Baltimore. 
Having thus invited them, he probably intended they should 
have full liberty of worship ; and in 1649, an act of religious 
liberty was passed, which seems to display an impartial spirit. 
Unluckily, however, for the proprietary, these settlers brought 
with them the principles of poHtical liberty, which usually ac- 
companied their religious profession. They w^ere prepared to 
own the proprietary as lord of the soil, and to pay him all his 
dues. But great w^as their surprise, when, after much expense 
in removal, and in cultivating their ground, which derived al- 
most its whole value from their labour, an oath was presented 
to them, in default of signing which, they ^vere to be ejected 
from their lands, and banished from the colony. On looking 
into it, they were astonished to find no mention either of their 
rights or duties as English subjects; but that they were to 
pledge thjeir sole allegiance to Lord Baltimore and his success- 
sors, binding themselves " to the uttermost of their power to 
defend and maintain his right, title, interest, privileges, royal 
jurisdiction, prerogative, proprietary, and dominion." This 
appeared " far too high for him, and strangely unsuitable to the 
present liberty which God had given to English subjects." It 
even seemed quite inconsistent with the allegiance due, and 
which many of them had actually sworn, to the government at 



140 SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 

home. They felt peculiarly reluctant to devote themselves so 
entirely to the support of rulers who, on their part, were bound 
to countenance and uphold antichrist. They drew up, how- 
ever, a modified oath, not anywhere recorded ; but it was one 
which Stone, the governor, who never showed any want of 
zeal for his master's interest, considered admissable, and agreed 
to receive. Nevertheless, when sent home, the proprietary in- 
dignantly returned it, ordering that the original one should be 
taken, and directing that those who within three months failed 
to comply, should immediately suffer the sentence of forfeiture 
and banishment. Stone, consulting his lordship's benefit by 
seeking to moderate his violence, did not choose to proceed to 
this extremity, and merely refused land to new comers on any 
other terms. The threat, however, was kept hanging over the 
heads of all, and placed the colony in a state of alarm and 
agitation, which ill prepared it for the crisis in which it was 
soon to be involved. 

In the great contest between the king and the commons, it 
cannot be doubted that all the partialities of Lord Baltimore 
were on the royal side. It is even said, that when Charles was 
at Oxford, he obtained a commission to arm vessels and men 
against the insurgents. He felt, however, much disinclined to 
become a martyr in that monarch's cause ; and as soon as his 
downfall appeared inevitable, began loudly to proclaim his at- 
tachment to the republicans. Greene, his governor, having 
hastily proclaimed Charles II., was removed, and his place sup- 
plied by Stone, a protestant, who was stated to be " always 
zealously affected to the parliament." His lordship boasted of 
the contrast of his government to that of Virginia, and the 
shelter afforded by him to the persecuted puritans of that colony. 
So fully did he impress these views on the public, that the king, 
from Breda, issued a commission, in which, branding him as 
'* visibly adhering to the rebels, and admitting schismatics, sec- 
taries, and other ill-affected persons into his plantation," he de- 
posed him, and named Sir WilUam Davenant his successor. 



CIVIL DISSENSIONS. 141 

The latter, having collected a colony of Frenchmen, set sail for 
America, but was taken by a parliamentary vessel ; and being 
condemned to death, he was saved only by the intercession of 
Milton, who was attached to him on account of his poetical 
talents. The commission, though it failed wholly as to its ob- 
ject, was industriously circulated by Lord Baltimore, and osten- 
tatiously exhibited as a proof of his avowed attachment to the 
commonwealth. 

All these particulars were brought carefully forward at the 
critical period when, as formerly mentioned, a commission was 
sent out to reduce Virginia under the new government. His 
lordship states, that after the name of Maryland had been in- 
serted, the parliamentary leaders w^ere, by his representations, 
induced to expunge it. But he adds, that " somehow or other" 
there was afterwards introduced " all the plantations within the 
Bay of the Chesapeake." 

The commission consisted of five members, two being Ame- 
ricans ; and as by accident only one from England (Captain 
Curtis) reached his destination, they became the majority. 
Those two were Bennet and Clayborne, the deadliest foes of 
the house of Baltimore ; and their influence was greatly in- 
creased, when the one was named governor of Virginia, and 
the other appointed his secretary. In the clause above men- 
tioned they found full warrant to include Maryland ; and see- 
ing no ground for its exemption, they treated with derision the 
professed zeal of the colony and its ruler in the cause of liberty. 
They accordingly repaired thither, and began by calling upon 
Stone to expunge the king's name from the writs, and substi- 
tute the title then assumed by the parhament, of " Keepers of 
the Liberties of England." The governor replied, that the 
first demand was impossible, the writs never having been issued 
in any name but that of the proprietary, without whose autho- 
rity he did not feel justified in making any alteration. The 
commissioners regarded this explanation as very unsatisfactory ; 
and receiving many complaints, particularly as to the required 



142 SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 

oath, and the ruin which impended over the protestant settlers 
for refusing it, they determined upon an entire change of go- 
vernment. The other did not directly oppose, but strongly 
remonstrated ; and after a discussion of some months, a com- 
promise was effected. Stone and one or two other leading 
men were replaced in power ; but the subordinate officers, par- 
ticularly the judges, were to continue as nominated by the 
commission. 

Baltimore, considering himself highly aggrieved by these pro- 
ceedings, presented a petition to the House of Commons, to 
which he had procured the signature of twenty Protestant pro- 
prietors ; the Catholics being for the present kept in the back- 
ground. He complained that two members of the commission, 
his avowed enemies, taking advantage of some ambiguous ex- 
pressions, which were quite contrary to the intent of its framers, 
had subverted his government, without regard to his undoubted 
rights, and zealous attachment to the commonwealth. The 
house immediately appointed a committee of inquiry, w^ho pre- 
senting the facts of the case, as they really were, the house 
appears to have seen no ground to disturb the arrangements 
made by the commissioners. 

This appears in fact to be one of the happiest intervals in the 
troubled history of the colony. The proprietary, however, in- 
dignantly bore this limitation on his authority, and eagerly 
sought to regain his full prerogative. An opportunity seemed 
to occur when Cromwell, secure in the affections of the soldiery, 
dismissed the parliament, and centred the whole power of the 
state in his own person. His lordship now paid assiduous court 
to one not indifferent to the homage of men of rank, and eagerly 
solicited of him the desired boon. We suspect he obtained at 
least a promise that he should not be interfered with, though 
this is discredited by the opposite party, and the Protector did 
not withdraw any of the powers vested in the commissioners ; 
but we will soon produce, on the part of this extraordinary 
person, such proofs of ignorance and carelessness in regard to 



CIVIL DISSENSIONS. 



143 




Oliver Cromwell. 



these colonies, as to make it quite probable that he might issue 
very opposite mandates. Certain it is, that in the beginning of 
1654, the proprietary sent to Stone strict directions forthwith 
to overthrow everything that had been set up by the commis- 
sioners ; to displace every officer appointed by them ; and to 
seize and try all, themselves not excepted, who should move in 
support of their system. The oath, in particular, was no longer 
to be trifled with ; but all w^ho should not take it within three 
months were to be rigorously ejected. The agent immediately 
proceeded to put those orders in execution, with, it is said, a 
violence and impetuosity which he had not formerly displayed. 

The Protestants complained, and the deputies, who lent no 
unwiUing ear to their complaints, sent orders to pay no regard 
to the authorities thus unwarrantably set up. Yet they seem 
not to have been in haste to interfere personally. Bennet, it is 



144 SETTLEMENT* OF MARYLAND. 

alleged, had received a letter from Cromwell, urging him to 
preserve peace, and containing perhaps other equivocal expres- 
sions. They endeavoured by an amicable correspondence to 
induce Stone to desist. But when the three months elapsed 
without success, and matters were becoming always more ur- 
gent, they resolved no longer to .delay. So confident indeed 
were they of support in the colony, that, in June, 1654, they 
set sail in an open boat, with only two row^ers, and landed 
at Patuxent. Learning that Stone was determined to resist, 
and even if possible to seize their persons, they published a 
declaration virtually deposing him, by ordering that the govern- 
ment should be administered solely in the name of the Pro- 
tector. Finding themselves soon at the head of a strong body 
of armed Protestants, they advanced upon the governor, who 
was using every effort to assemble an army of Romanists. 
They w^ere mustered, how^ever, with difficulty, and in small 
numbers, and, says Hammond, " they importunately advised him 
not to fight." With an inadequate body of men tendering such 
advice, and the dread of reinforcements from Virginia, he con- 
sidered resistance quite hopeless. He declined any part in alter- 
ing or modifying the government, but, in order to avoid the 
effusion of blood, simply resigned it into the hands of Bennet 
and Clayborne ; who placing it under ten local commissioners, 
of w^hom the chief were Fuller and Preston, departed for 
Virginia. 

The Protestants, thus completely triumphant, did not use 
their victory with the moderation which indeed was rather to 
be desired than expected. Bennet and Clayborne, in a plat- 
form of government, published 22d July, 1654, deprived the 
Roman Catholics of the elective franchise ; and the next assem- 
bly, exclusively Protestant, passed an act that none who pro- 
fessed the popish religion could be protected in the province • 
by the laws of England formerly established, and yet unre- ■ 
pealed ; and the freedom of worship was not extended " to i 
popery or prelacy, or to such as under the profession of Christ 



CIVIL WAR. 145 

practised licentiousness." While we must join in the general 
censure of this conduct, it ought not to be forgotten that in 
those days the toleration of popery scarcely existed, and would 
even have been considered criminal. Milton, an avowed and 
zealous advocate of religious freedom, did not extend it to them. 
The measure, was a most unhappy one in a colony founded, 
and still to so great an extent occupied by Rorhanists. We 
find, indeed, no mention of any actual expulsion, or even inter- 
ruption of worship ; but they were placed in a degraded con- 
dition, which they were not likely to brook. The arrangement 
was inconsistent with the peace of the settlers, and soon gave 
rise to the most violent conflict yet waged between Englishmen 
on this side of the Atlantic. 

The Catholics, notwithstanding the favour shown to their re- 
ligion, had displayed towards the proprietary government an 
apathy with which Hammond vehemently reproaches them. 
They had seen it three times subverted, without lifting an arm 
in its defence ; but now they were driven as if it were by main 
force into its ranks. Stone, taunted by the proprietary with 
his former timidity, and warned that, without a greater display 
of energy, another would forthwith take his place, now sum- 
moned the Catholics, and all others attached to the Baltimore 
government, to rally round him. They obeyed with unwonted 
alacrity, and he soon saw himself at the head of a greater force 
than had ever before been mustered in Maryland. With the 
consciousness of strength seems to have grown an indifference 
lO persuasive measures, and a disposition to carry all by main 
brce. The first object was to possess the records then depo- 
;ited at Patuxent. Hammond boasts, that proceeding thither in 
L boat with only three rowers, he ventured among these " sons 
)f thunder," and carried off the deeds without opposition. The 
I!atholic force soon possessed themselves of the whole district, 
md advanced upon the main hold of the adverse party at Pro- 
idence, in Anne Arundel. 
The Protestants appear to have been taken very much by 
13 



146 SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 

surprise, and without any of those precautions which a prudent 
foresight would have dictated. The deepest alarm is said to 
have been felt at the advance of this overwhelming force, com-, 
ing, as was reported, with the determination to kill men, women, 
and children. Their letters, preserved by Heamans, do not 
breathe anything of a violent or imperious spirit. The com- 
missioners, in their first address to Stone, declared that if he 
would make known his authority, he should not be opposed or 
disturbed in the least degree ; that they had no wish to retain ai 
power to which they felt themselves unequal, and were ready 
to submit to any government which God might place over them. , 
They received, it is said, no answer, but what tended to make; 
them desperate. According to Strong, the adverse leaders laidl 
their hands on their swords, intimating that these gave authority^ 
sufficient, and would carry all before them. On the return of ;^ 
the messengers, the people assembled, and as the panic still pre-^ 
vailed, they were induced to make a very humble proposal. It(j 
was agreed that Stone should resume the government, on conJ 
dition of ruling them as English subjects, of granting an am-l 
nesty for former acts, and a permission that any one who de- 
sired it might leave the country without injury to his property.! 
As soon as this proposal was sent, they repented having gone 
so far ; however, no result followed. The boat which con- 
veyed the message met the expedition rapidly advancing, partly! 
along the coast, partly in vessels by sea. The barge and crew 
were seized, and no notice was taken of the rnessage ; but twci 
persons escaped and brought this intelligence. 

The Protestants now formed a decisive resolution to conquei 
or die. As a large trader well armed was at that time lying ii 
the Severn, Fuller delivered a summons to Heamans, the cap 
tain, and fastened another to the main-mast, calling upon hino 
to defend the Protector's government ; a mandate which he was 
nothing loath to obey. His crew also expressed an eager dis-> 
position " to make the Protestant cause their own." Stone< 
anxious to detach him, sent a letter, stating that he had em 



CIVIL WAR. 147 

closed a petition with the Protector's order upon it ; but there 
was no such enclosure ; and though the messenger declared he 
had seen the document, this assurance was not considered a 
sufficient ground to act upon. 

On the evening of the 24th March, the alarm was given, 
and the Catholic armament, with drums beating and colours fly- 
ing, was seen entering the broad estuary of the Severn. The 
seamen eagerly asked permission to fire, but Heamans restrained 
them till he could hail the advancing foe, and endeavoured to 
persuade them to desist. As they paid no regard to him, he 
gave the word, and when the balls began to play, they retreated, 
exclaiming " round-headed rogues I" and ran into a creek, where 
they disembarked. Next morning, they were seen marching 
along the coast, two hundred and fifty strong, while the Pro- 
testants, only one hundred and seven in number, having chosen 
probably an advantageous position, determined to make their 
final stand. Heamans lent them a pair of colours, and though 
he did not leave his ship, afforded, doubtless, all the aid in his 
power. They profess, however, not to have attacked, but left 
still an opening for amicable adjustment ; but the assailants 
having poured in a fire, which wounded several, the signal was 
given to close. The two parties rushed upon each other, with 
the cry on one side of " God is our strength ;" on the other, 
" Hey for St. Mary." The contest was brisk, but short. Vic- 
tory soon decided so completely in favour of the Protestants, 
that the whole opposite army, with the exception of five, were 
either killed or taken. Stone himself, with his principal officers, 
were among the captives. All the boats, artillery, and bag- 
gage, fell into the hands of the victors, who boast also of an 
extensive capture of beads, reliques, and other " trash in which 
they trusted." 

The conquerors are accused of a cruel intention to put to 
death the governor, with some of the leading men, who were 
saved by the humane interposition of the females ; but the 
authors on their side make no mention of such a design. 



148 SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 

Heamans describes " the religious, humble, and holy rejoicing 
which followed," as the most interesting scene he had ever 
witnessed. 

The Protestants were thus again triumphant; yet imme- 
diately there arose another alarm. About the same time that 
the proprietary despatched his last imperious mandate, Crom- 
well, who we suspect had sanctioned it, wrote to Bennet, 
strongly censuring him for having gone into Baltimore's planta- 
tion in Maryland, and countenanced some people there- in op- 
posing his government. He ordered him to forbear such inter- 
ference, and leave the boundaries of the two colonies to be fixed 
by the decision of the authorities at home. Another mandate 
is quoted as having been sent to the governor and council, " not 
to meddle in the business that hath happened between the men 
of Severn and Lord Baltimore's officers ; but to leave that 
affair to be settled by the " Commissioners of the Parlia- 
ment.^^ It would be difficult to display grosser ignorance on 
any subject than is here manifested. He did not know that 
the commissioners and the rulers of Virginia were the same per- 
sons, but supposed that they interposed in the latter capacity, to 
extend the jurisdiction of that settlement, and that the chief 
dispute respected the boundaries between it and Maryland. 

The Baltimore party, however, now published these docu- 
ments, announcing to their antagonists, that they were rebels 
•against one who would not suffer his power to be defied with 
impunity ; and the colony remained some time in a state of ex- 
treme agitation. Pains, however, were now doubtless taken to 
explain to him the real state of the case. We suspect too that, 
amid the deep interest excited in England by the late con- 
test, the public voice, especially among his own party, would 
declare itself perhaps with extreme force on the Protestant side. 
Heamans, even while implicitly referring the question to his de- 
cision, intimates a trust, that he " hath provided better gover- 
nors for the people of God, than professed enemies of the truth, 
and that hunt after the innocent." We find him, next Septem- 



CATHOLIC GOVERNOR. 149 

ber, writing an angry letter, not owning his own ignorance, but 
telling the commissioners, " that they had mistaken his meaning, 
as if he would have had a stop put to their proceedings for 
settling the civil government, whereas he only intended to pre- 
vent any violence to be offered to Virginia, with regard to 
bounds ; they being now under consideration." 

The Protestant governors were thus relieved from present 
apprehension, but they had placed the colony in a false position, 
under which tranquillity could not be permanent. At this crisis 
a new character appeared on the scene. Josiah Feudal], who 
had actively supported Stone, now rallied round him the Catho- 
lic and proprietary interests. He thereby raised an insurrec- 
tion, the events of which do not seem to have been remarkable, 
and are nowhere given in detail ; but it was not put down without 
difficulty. Lord Baltimore was so much pleased with his exer- 
tions, that he sent to him a commission as governor ; and thus 
armed, after some farther efforts, he obtained possession of the 
Catholic district of St. Mary, while the Protestants still ruled 
in their own territory. After some time he had the address to 
bring about, on the 24th March, 1658, an arrangement by 
which he and his master were acknowledged throughout the 
whole colony. Freedom of worship, equal privileges, rehef 
from the obnoxious oath, and permission to retain arms, appear 
to have been the basis of this agreement, by which the jarring 
elements that had distracted the plantation were for some time 
happily composed. But the political wheel now rapidly re- 
volving soon brought round another revolution. 

In March, 1660, news arrived of the restoration of Charles 
II., when the assembly, recollecting probably the indignation 
of that prince against Lord Baltimore, his deposition, and the 
appointment of another governor, imagined that an opportunity 
was afforded for emancipating themselves altogether from his 
rule, and becoming free as a royal colony. They met and de- 
clared, that no power should be recognised in Maryland except 
their own and the king's. The council, with the authority by 
13* 



150 SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 

which they had heen nominated, were entirely set aside ; though 
the place of governor was still tendered to Fendall, on condi- 
tion of his holding it in the name of the assembly. Ambitious 
of retaining his station, and reckoning probably that he owed it 
rather to his own energy and popularity, than to the proprie- 
tary's favour, he accepted the offer. 

These steps were premature and inconsiderate. Baltimore, 
who was a skilful courtier, soon persuaded Charles of what 
was doubtless the truth, that all his real partiaUties had been 
for the royal cause, and his republican profession made merely 
under the urgency of political circumstances. He therefore 
soon obtained the full restoration of his chartered privileges ; 
and Philip Calvert, his brother, was sent out to assume the 
government. No attempt was made to resist him. All the 
services of Fendall were now cancelled ; he was brought to 
trial and found guilty of high treason, but, instead of capital 
punishment, was merely fined, and declared incapable of ever 
holding office. Considering his influence with the people, it 
might perhaps have been wiser to treat leniently an offence 
committed under peculiar circumstances, than thus provoke the 
enmity of one who could render it formidable. 

Thus began the second period of Lord Baltimore's govern- 
ment, respecting which we have only scattered and imperfect 
notices, whose tenor, as before, is very contradictory. Accord- 
ing to one party, his rule was beyond example mild, tolerant, 
and beneficent, such as ought to have rendered Maryland an 
earthly paradise. On the other side, fresh charges are made 
of domineering tyranny and covert persecution. Nor is it de- 
nied tiiat the people showed little sense of their alleged happi- 
ness ; that much dissatisfaction existed ; and that repeated at- 
tempts were made to shake off the yoke. The discontents are 
indicated by the severe laws against those who divulged false 
news or stirred up opposition to the governor, who were to be 
punished with whipping, boring the tongue, imprisonment, exile, 
and even death. 



CONDITION OF THE COLONY. 151 

Lord Effingham, though a high partisan of authority, de- 
scribes Maryland as threatening to fall to pieces, and imputes 
the blame to the proprietary. Heavy complaints were laid be- 
fore the English government of the slender provision for Pro- 
testant vi^orship, as well as of the partiality shown to Catholics 
in the distribution of offices ; but the notices on the subject are 
so slight and partial, that it is diffiult to form any positive judg- 
ment. The Quakers, so severely persecuted everywhere else, 
had gone thither in considerable numbers ; but though not mo- 
lested as to their worship, little indulgence was shown to their 
scruples in respect to military and other public services. 

A considerable emigration, however, continued to take place, 
particularly of the labouring class, who, on coming under inden- 
tures for a term of years, had the expenses of their voyage de- 
frayed. The more opulent classes, as in Virginia, found their 
incomes depressed by the low value of tobacco ; but they ren- 
dered the evil less oppressive by bearing it more patiently, and 
making no foolish attempts to relieve it by renouncing or sus- 
pending the culture. The commercial monopoly, and the duties 
on their produce, also pressed hard on them ; and upon these 
points the proprietary and the king were involved in a warm 
controversy. 

The rebellion of Bacon, in Virginia, with the popish plot and 
other disturbances in England, encouraged the discontented 
party to aim at another change. The movement was in the 
Protestant interest ; and Fendall, being its leader, may be sus- 
pected as not unwilling to seek power under any banners. 
Very few details are given ; but it appears that he and his 
accomplice Coode were suddenly apprehended. He was fined 
40,000 pounds of tobacco, imprisoned for non-payment, and 
banished from the colony. Lord Baltimore might have ex- 
pected favour under the Catholic rule of James II.; but that 
monarch, prefering arbitrary power to every other considera- 
tion, and having determined to reduce the charters of all the 
colonies, ordered proceedings to be commenced against that of 



152 SETTLEMENT* OF MARYLAND. 

Mainland, which were only arrested by his expulsion from the 
throne. This event, however, did not ultimately avail the pro- 
prietary. After the revolution, his officers were accused of de- 
laying to proclaim William and Mary ; and the Protestants, in- 
spired with new coui-age, rose in arms, overturned his govern- 
ment with the usual facility, and established a provisional one. 
In their defence, they published a statement, urging the often- 
repeated charges of civil tyranny and covert persecution. 

William, who doubtless had an interest in favour of the insur- 
gents, gave his entire sanction to their proceedings, and took 
the government into his own hands. After a short tenure by 
Andros, it was directed during six years by Nicholson, who, on 
the whole, gave satisfaction. The Protestants considered their 
wrongs as redressed, nor do we hear of any complaints from 
the opposite party. Under the successive administrations of 
Blackeston, Seymour, Corbet, and Hunt, the province continued 
tranquil and contented. In 1716, the inheritance having fallen 
to Charles, Lord Baltimore, who professed the Protestant reli- 
gion, George I. was induced to restore his patent, which con- 
tinued till the Revolution in the hands of the family. It was 
first ruled by B. Leonard Calvert, a relation of the proprietary, 
who was succeeded in 1732, by Samuel Ogle. The colony 
continuing to flourish, received a large accession of Presbyteri- 
ans from the north of Ireland, who, after settling in Pennsyl- 
vania, sold their possessions and removed to this more favourable 
climate. 




CHAPTER VI. 

SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

N the grand scheme concerted in 1606, for 
colonizing Virginia, as has been already 
observed, one company had been authorized 
to form establishments on the southern, an- 
other on the northern part of the extensive 
coast which bears that name. The first was 
undertaken by certain merchants in London, 
the other by capitalists in the western ports. The former, 
whose fortune we have already traced, undertook their task 
with more ample means, carried it on w^ith greater perseverance, 
and, though amid many disasters, rose sooner into importance. 
The latter, however, was not destitute of powerful supporters, 
among whom were Sir John Popham, at that time Chief-Justice 
of England, and Sir Ferdinand Gorges, governor of Plymouth. 
In A ugust, 1606, they had fitted out a vessel of fifty-five tons, 
with a crew of twenty-nine Englishmen and tw^o savages. 
Captain Chalons, the commander, took the circuitous route of 
the West Indies, and having been involved, near the coast of 
Hispaniola, in thick fogs and tempestuous weather, found him- 
self surrounded by eight vessels manned by Spaniards. They 
rushed on board with drawn swords, and made prisoners of the 
crew, who were distributed among the different ships and con- 
veyed to Europe. The captain and pilot with some others were 
brought to Seville, thrown into prison, and treated with the ut- 
most indignity. Robert Cooke, one of their number, having 
died, his body w^as dragged naked through the prison, amid 
cries of " behold the Lutheran ;" and Humfries, the boatswain, 
was assassinated. Through the humane intercession, however, 

(153) 



154 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, they obtained a mitigation of 
their sufferings, and at length they escaped to England. 

Another party, sent out with supplies to Chalons, were much 
dismayed upon not finding any trace of him or his companions. 
They were pleased, how'ever, with the aspect of the country, 
and brought home such a favourable report as incited the adven- 
turers to fresh efforts. In 1607, they sent two ships with one 
hundred men, conducted by Captain Popham, a son of the chief- 
justice, and a brother of Sir John Gilbert. The crews, having 
landed near the mouth of the Kennebec, built a fort named St. 
George ; but they found the winter intensely cold ; a quantity 
of their stores w^as consumed by fire ; and Popham, their prin- 
cipal leader, died. Next season, a vessel arrived with fresh 
supplies, but conveying tidings of the death of the chief-justice, 
and also of Sir John Gilbert, which induced their president, 
who was his heir, to go to England and take possession of 
the estate. All these inauspicious circumstances so discouraged 
the settlers, that, hke some of the more southern colonists, they 
determined in a body to return home, thus rendering all the 
exertions of the company completely abortive. 

This unwelcome arrival proved it is said " a wonderful dis- 
couragement" to such undertakings, which there was long " no 
more speech" of renewing. Sir Francis Popham, however, 
who succeeded as governor, sent out vessels on his own account 
to fish and carry on the fur-trade. His adventure, being found 
profitable, was followed by others ; and at least one crew win- 
tered on the coast. A powerful impulse was given to coloniza- 
tion, when Smith, unable now to find employment in Virginia, 
directed all the powers of his intelligent mind into this new 
sphere. In 1614, he prevailed upon four merchants of London 
to furnish him with two traders, and also fifteen men to form a 
settlement. No mention is made of any connexion with the 
Plymouth Company, who, indeed, when they effected so little 
themselves, could not with a good grace have opposed the 
attempt. The whale-fishery, apparently the leading object, 



ARRIVAL OF SMITH. 155 

failed ; whence the plan of settlement seems to have been relin- 
quished. By boat fishing, however, and by collecting martin, 
beaver, and otter skins, a value of 1500/. was realized, which 
was considered a very favourable return. 

While the others, too, were thus employed. Smith contrived 
to make a survey of the coast, from the Penobscot to Cape Cod, 
and gave to the country the memorable name of New England, 
which it has ever since retained. This voyage, however, was 
followed by a most distressing event. Thomas Hunt, left in 
charge of one of the ships, inveigled on board thirty of the na- 
tives, whom he carried to Malaga, and sold as slaves. The 
consequence was, that Captain Hobson, who arrived a short time 
after, without any knowledge of the crime, was killed, with 
several of his crew ; and much pains were necessary to assuage 
the resentment thus kindled. 

Meantime, the arrival of Smith in this country produced so 
favourable an impression, that the Virginia and Plymouth Com- 
panies vied with each other in soliciting his services. The for- 
mer offered four ships, which he declined in consequence of a 
previous engagement to their western rivals ; a circumstance he 
afterwards found reason to repent, since, nothing being in readi- 
ness, he was involved in a labyrinth of trouble before he could 
procure two vessels, with only fifteen settlers. Upon going to 
sea, a violent storm, which broke his masts, obliged him to re- 
turn. Being provided with a smaller vessel, he again set sail, 
but when in the vicinity of the Azores, he was captured by 
French pirates, who carried him to Rochelle, whence he con- 
trived to escape. A great part of his property, however, was 
lost in this voyage. 

The company did not altogether discontinue their exertions ; 
and Captain Darmer, who sailed with Smith in 1615, reached 
the coast and made a good fishery. During the succeeding 
years, he and Rocraft displayed very considerable activity. 
Darmer made a voyage along the coast to Virginia, proving for 
the first time its continuity with New England ; and meeting 



156 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

some Dutchmeiij who had opened a trade on the Hudson, he 
gave on the whole a highly favourable account of the country. 
An attempt was made to conciliate the natives by means of 
Squanto, called sometimes Tisquantum, one of Hunt's victims, 
who had found his way to Newfoundland, whence he was sent 
home by Mason, the governor. Much distress was, however, 
experienced, both from their enmity and from the violence and 
insubordination of the English sailors. Rocraft, after suppress- 
ing a violent mutiny, was killed in a conflict with one of his 
own people ; while Darmer, severely wounded by a band of 
savages, was constrained to retire into Virginia, where he soon 
afterwards died. These disasters checked greatly the progress 
of the few scattered settlements. 

Smith, meantime, after his return, strained every nerve to in- 
spire his countrymen with colonizing zeal. He went from city 
to city, applied to various individuals who had shown an interest 
in the subject, and circulated at great expense seven thousand 
copies of books and maps. He complains, that he might as 
well have attempted to " cut rocks with oyster-shells." Be- 
sides this prevailing apathy, he was objected to as an unfor- 
tunate man ; for all his undertakings had failed, and a contrast 
was drawn between the poor state of Virginia under him, and 
its present prosperous condition, when the planters were living 
in ease and luxury on the juice of tobacco. Though he could 
show that this arose from causes which he could not control, he 
found it difficult to shake the influence of fortune over men's 
minds. 

At length the Plymouth Company began to make a move- 
ment ; but it was altogether in a false direction. Their patent 
had hitherto been so Hmited, that they had not been able to 
prevent the rivalry of the London merchants, and even of the 
Virginia Association. They conceived, that if they could ob- 
tain the same exclusive privileges which had been lavished on 
the latter, they might be equally prosperous. By continued 
solicitation during two years, and by receiving into their num- 



GRANTS TO THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY. 157 

ber some influential individuals, they gained from James I., on 
the 3d November, 1620, a most ample charter for all the coun- 
try betv^^een the 40th and 48th degrees of north latitude, from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, comprising about a million of square 
miles, and including New York and New England, with all 
the northern states of the Union. Within these vast limits 
they obtained the exclusive right, not only of settlement, but of 
trade and fishery. No stipulation indeed was even made for 
political privileges to the settlers ; the whole region was to be 
under the absolute sway of the Duke of Lennox, the Marquises 
of Buckingham and Hamilton, and other individuals, amounting 
in all to forty-two. 

These exorbitant privileges were of very little avail to those 
by whom they had been so unfairly procured. They struck at 
the interests of a large body of merchants, who, having em- 
barked in the fishery, were supported by the House of Com- 
mons, then fast rising into importance. Sir Edwin Sandys, a 
popular leader, brought in a bill to allow free fishing and the 
cutting of timber on all this coast, which, notwithstanding the 
opposition of Sir George Calvert and other members, was carried ; 
and though James prevented it from passing into a law, this 
adverse vote rendered it very diflficult to enforce such exorbitant 
claims. The fishing, indeed, seems to have increased in the 
face of the prohibition. The ships destined for it, which, in 
1622, amounted to only thirty-five, rose next year to forty-five. 
In these adventures the produce was divided into three equal 
parts, between the owner, the victualler, the masters and sea- 
men. These last received usually from 17/. to 20/. for the trip, 
being more than they could elsewhere earn of wages in twenty 
months. Almost the only use the company could make of 
their charter, was to assign large grants of land, which, though 
they turned to Httle account at the time, were afterwards eagerly 
contested. The deeds were drawn so loosely, sometimes mak- 
ing over the same spot to different persons, that disputes arose, 
suflficient, it is said, to have afforded employment to a little 
14 



158 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

colony of lawyers. In their absence, other processes, suited 
to a rude society, were resorted to, the nature of which was 
indicated by the very names of Bloody Point, Black and Blue 
Point, applied to diiferent parts of the coast. 

All the efforts both of government and of powerful com- 
panies to people this district had thus proved nearly abortive, 
when, from an unexpected quarter, a tide of population poured 
into it, which rendered New England the most prosperous of all 
the colonies on the American continent. 

The Reformation, though it doubtless involved an extensive 
exercise of private judgment, was not accompanied by any ex- 
press recognition of that right, or of any general principle of 
toleration. These were long wanting in England, where the 
change was introduced, not by the people, though conformable 
to their wishes, but by the most arbitrary of their monarchs, 
consulting chiefly his own passion and caprice. Substituting 
himself for the head of the Catholic Church, Henry VIII. ex- 
acted the same implicit submission. Elizabeth trod in his steps, 
equally despotic, and attached, if not to popery, as has some- 
times been suspected, at least to a pompous ritual and powerful 
hierarchy. But the nation in general, considering the Romish 
religion as contrary to Scripture, and shocked by the bloody 
persecutions of Mary, and other sovereigns on the Continent, 
were disposed to go into the opposite extreme. From Geneva 
they imbibed the Calvinistic doctrine and discipline, with the 
strict manners usually combined with them. The queen, whose 
views were irreconcilably opposed to these innovations, claimed 
the right of putting them down by main force. The most 
severe laws were enacted under the sanction of Whitgift, arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, a prelate sincerp^y but bigotedly attached 
to the English Church. The high court of commission was 
established ; several obstinate non-conformists were fined or im- 
prisoned, and a few suffered death. 

But under all these persecutions, the party continually in- 
creased, and even assumed a bolder character. The puritans, 



THE PILGRIMS. 159 

"while they sought to reform the church, had no wish to with- 
draw from her bosom ; but there sprung up a new sect named 
Brownists, who, denying the authority of her doctrine and dis- 
cipline, sought for the first time to found an independent com- 
munion. Upon them all the vials of persecution were poured 
forth. Brown himself could boast that he had been shut up in 
thirty-two prisons, and several of his followers were put to 
death ; but his own firmness at length failed, and he accepted a 
living in that church which he had so strenuously opposed. 
Although much condemned by his more zealous adherents, his 
desertion broke for some time the union of the party. 

Towards the end of EHzabeth's reign, however, there was 
formed in a northern county a congregation of Separatists, un- 
der two respectable clergymen, Robinson and Brewster. Dur- 
ing a certain interval they escaped notice ; but James, who 
soon began to follow his predecessor's steps, took such measures 
as convinced them that it would be vain to attempt the exercise 
of their profession at home. In looking for an asylum, they 
fixed upon Holland, the first country where toleration was 
publicly sanctioned by law ; and thither they made their escape, 
amid much difficulty and hardship, their families being for some 
time detained behind them. Having reached that foreign land, 
they found the protection denied at home, and remained eleven 
years unmolested, and even respected. But they never became 
fully naturalized ; their original occupation of agriculture was 
more congenial to their taste than the mechanical arts, by 
which alone they could earn a subsistence among the Dutch. 
They turned their eyes, therefore, to a transatlantic region, 
where they would not merely enjoy toleration, but might form 
a society founded on their favourite plan of church-government. 

Animated by these views, the exiles applied to the Virginia 
Company, then under the management of Sandys, Southamp- 
ton, and other liberal members, who zealously espousing their 
cause, obtained, though not without difficulty, from King James 
a promise to wink at their heresy, provided they remained other- 



160 SETTLEMENT O^ NEW ENGLAND. 

wise tranquil. Smith, deeply interested in this transaction, 
tendered and even pressed his services ; which would doubtless 
have been extremely valuable. His religious views, however, 
were materially different, and instead of the subordination which 
he required, he found in them a rooted determination " to be 
lords and kings of themselves." It was necessary, therefore, 
that they should " make trial of their own folUes ;" for which, 
he mentions with a mixture of regret and triumph, that " they 
payed soundly, and were beaten with their own rod." They 
also wanted capital adequate to the founding of a plantation. 
Several London merchants agreed to advance the necessary 
sums, to be repaid out of the proceeds of their industry ; but 
the terms were very high, and till the liquidation of the debt, 
the produce of their labour was to be thrown into a common 
stock for the benefit of the creditors ; hence their exertions 
were not stimulated by the salutary impulse of personal interest. 
With the means thus procured, the emigrants purchased one 
vessel of sixty, and hired another of one hundred and eighty 
tons ; the former of which sailed to Delfthaven to take on board 
the brethren. The two joined at Southampton, and thence pro- 
ceeded on their great western voyage ; but before they reached 
the Land's End, the master of the smaller one, declaring her to 
be too leaky to cross the Atlantic, put back to Dartmouth for 
repairs. After another trial, the captain again pronounced her 
unfit for the voyage, and made sail for Plymouth. These disas- 
ters and alarms, though involving the loss of much precious 
time, " winnowed their number of the cowardly and the luke- 
warm ;" and they finally set sail in one vessel, on the 6th Sep- 
tember, 1620, being in all one hundred and two persons, with 
the firm determination of braving every hardship. They had a 
tempestuous voyage, and though their destination was the mouth 
of the Hudson, they arrived on the 9th November, in view of 
a great promontory, which proved to be Cape Cod. The cap- 
tain, it has been alleged, had received a bribe from the Dutch 
to avoid a place where they projected a settlement. Of this, 



ARRIVAL OF THE PILGRIMS. 



161 




Landing of the Pilgrims. 



however, the adventurers being ignorant, were comforted by 
the view of a goodly land wooded to the water's edge. Whales 
so abounded, that had the crew possessed means and instru- 
ments, which, to their great regret, were wanting, they might 
have procured 4000/. worth of oil. They sailed on toward 
their destination, but being driven back by contrary winds, de- 
termined to go ashore. Previously, however, they sought to 
obviate the danger of discord by a mutual agreement, in the 
name of God, to combine into a body politic ; framing and duly 
observing laws for the general good. 

They landed on the 11th ; but being informed that more com- 
modious spots might be found to the northwest, in the interior 
of the great Bay of Massachusetts, they determined that a se- 
lect party should proceed in the shallop in search of them. 
14* 



162 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

The boat, however, was in such disrepair that it could not sail 
till the end of two or three weeks : sixteen of them, therefore, 
resolved to make an excursion into the interior. They met no 
natives, but found on a hill, half-buried in the ground, several 
baskets filled with ears of corn, part of which they carried 
away, meaning to satisfy the owners on the first opportunity, 
which unluckily never occurred. They saw many geese and 
ducks, but were unable to reach them ; and being exposed to 
severe cold, hastily returned. Soon after they started for the 
same spot, named Cornhill, in the neighbourhood of which they 
collected ten bushels of grain, esteemed a providential supply. 
They lighted upon a village without inhabitants ; but the houses 
were neatly constructed of young saplins bent at top, as in an 
arbour, and covered without and within with fine mats. Eagles' 
claws, deer's feet, and harts' horns, were stuck into them as 
charms and ornaments. They then regained their boat and 
sailed round to the ship. Some of their number urged that 
they should remain at least during the winter in this creek, 
where corn and fish could be procured, while many were dis- 
abled by sickness for further removal. The majority, however, 
observed that water was scarce, and the anchorage for ships 
too distant ; that they had every chance of finding a better 
situation, and to fix here and then remove w^ould be doubling 
their labour. 

On the 6th December, therefore, the shallop being at length 
ready, a chosen party set sail. After proceeding six or seven 
leagues, they reached a bay forming a good harbour, but with- 
out a stream falling into it. Seeing some Indian wigwams, they 
followed, but could not reach the people, and found only a large 
burying-place. They returned to sleep at the landing-place, 
but at midnight were wakened by " a great hideous cry," which 
they flattered themselves proceeded only from wolves or foxes. 
Next morning, just after prayers, the sound w^s heard with re- 
doubled violence, and was most dreadful. A straggler rushed 
in, crying, " they are men, — Indians." Though the party ran 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW PLYMOUTH. 163 

to their arras, before they could be mustere«l, the arrows were 
flying thick among them. A brisk fire checked the assailants ; 
but the chief, shooting from a tree, stood three discharges, till 
at the fourth he screamed out and ran, followed by his men. 
They were reckoned at thirty or forty, and numerous arrows 
were picked up ; but providentially not one Englishman w^as 
hurt. 

They sailed fifteen leagues further, and on the 9th reached a 
harbour that had been strongly recommended. The weather 
was dark and stormy, and the entrance encumbered with rocks ; 
yet they fortunately run in on a fine sandy beach. This being 
Saturday, they did not land till Monday the 11th, when they 
were highly pleased, finding a commodious harbour, a land 
well wooded, vines, cherries, and berries, lately planted, and a 
liill cleared for corn. There was no navigable stream, but 
several brooks of fresh water fell into the sea. They advanced 
seven or eight miles into the country without seeing any 
Indians. 

They now finally fixed upon this spot, to w^hich, on the 19th, 
the vessel was brought round ; and they named it New Ply- 
mouth, to commemorate hospitalities received at home. The 
erection of houses, however, was a hard task, amid severe 
weather, short days, and very frequent storms. By distribut- 
ing the unmarried among the several families, they reduced the 
buildings wanted to nineteen, and by the 10th January, had 
completed one, twenty feet square, for public meetings. The 
exposure, however, and wading through the water in such in- 
clement weather, brought on severe illnesses, to which Carver, 
a governor highly esteemed, and many others, fell victims. But 
on the 3d March, a south wind sprung up ; the weather be- 
came mild ; the birds sung in the woods most pleasantly ; the 
invalids quickly recovered ; and miany of them lived to a good 
old age. 

. In the autumn of 1621, the merchants sent out another ves- 
sel with thirty-five settlers ; but, misled by " prodigal reports 



164 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. ' 

of plenty" sent home by certain colonists, they supplied no por- 
visions ; nay, the crew required to be provided with a portion 
for their return voyage. The consequence was, that in the 
course of the winter the colonists were reduced to a half-allow- 
ance of corn daily, then to five kernels a-piece ; lastly, to entire 
want. Equally destitute of live-stock, they depended wholly 
on wild animals. Till May, 1622, fowls abounded ; but there 
remained then merely fish, which they had not nets to catch ; 
and it was only by feeding on the shell species, collected among 
the rocks, that they were preserved from absolute starvation. 

The emigrants had seen the natives only in the short hos- 
tile encounter, but afterwards learned that a severe pestilence 
had thinned their numbers. The crime of Hunt, also, had filled 
the country with horror and dread of the strangers. To their 
surprise, on the 16th March, 1621, a savage almost naked, in 
the most confident manner, walked through the village, and ad- 
dressed those he met in broken English. They crowded round 
him, and on their eager inquiry, learned that his name was 
Samoset ; that he belonged to the Wampanoags, a somewhat 
distant tribe ; and that their immediate neighbours were the 
people of Massassoit and the Nausites, the latter of whom had 
been the assailants in the late conflict. They treated him 
liberally with strong waters and food, presented him with a 
greatcoat, knife, and ornaments, and begged him to return with 
some of his countrymen. After a brief absence, he reappeared 
with " five proper men," presenting the usual grotesque attire 
and ferocious aspect. They all heartily danced and sung. A 
few days later he brought Squanto, whose restoration to his na- 
tive country, as we have already narrated, had rendered him 
extremely friendly to our name. Being ready to act as inter- 
preter and mediator, he opened a communication with Massas- 
soit ; and on the 22d March, that great sagamore, with Quade- 
quina his brother, and sixty men, was announced as in the 
vicinity. Difficulties were felt as to the meeting, from want of . 
mutual confidence ; however, Squanto having brought an invi- 



TREATY WITH MASSASSOIT. 



165 




Treaty with Massassoit. 



tation to parley, Edward Winslow went with presents, and was 
kindly received. The governor, then, after obtaining some In- 
[lians as hostages, marched out at the head of six musketeers, 
kissed hands with the great chief, and presented a bottle of 
strong w^aters, of which he drank somewhat copiously. A 
treaty was concluded, both of abstinence from mutual injury, 
i.nd protection against others ; and it was long faithfully ob- 
served. 

Two of the settlers now accepted an invitation to visit his 
residence. After a laborious journey of fifteen miles through 



166 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

trackless woods, they were received with great courtesy, but 
found a total deficiency of victuals, of which it seems the 
king's absence had prevented any supply. At night they were 
honoured by sharing the royal couch, which consisted of a large 
board, covered with a thin mat. At the other end lay his ma- 
jesty and the queen ; and they had soon the additional company 
of two chiefs, who, with a large colony of fleas and other in- 
sects, and the uncouth songs with which their bed-fellows lulled 
themselves to rest, rendered their slumbers very brief. Next 
day, two large bream were spread on the table ; but "forty ex- 
pected a share." Though strongly urged, they declined to par- • 
take any longer of these hospitalities. 

In February, 1622, the settlers had completely enclosed their 
town, forming four bulwarks and three gates. They were; 
some time after alarmed by hearing that Massassoit, now at the; 
point of death, was likely to be succeeded by his son Couba-- 
tant, whose disposition was far from friendly. Edward Wins-- 
low hastened to the spot, and found the magicians busy at theirr 
incantations, and six or eight women chafing him amidst hideous^ 
yells. The chief, already blind, cried out; " Oh, Winslow, K 
shall never sea thee again !" That gentleman, however, by^ 
suitable medicines, gave present relief, and in a few days effect- 
ed a cure. Even the heir-apparent, being promised similar aidi 
in case of need, became greatly reconciled to them. 

Meantime, Weston, one of the London adventurers, had sent! 
out a settlement consisting of sixty individuals to a place whichi 
they named Weymouth ; but they behaved so ill to the Indians, 
that the latter entered into a general confederacy to cut off all| 
the English. This was revealed by Massassoit, to his friends^! 
at Plymouth, who succeeded in saving both themselves andi 
their rivals, though the latter were obliged to relinquish theiri 
establishment, some returning home, and others joining the first! 
colony. 

This last made such progress that, though reduced, in th© 
spring of 1621, to fifty or sixty persons, in 1624, it amounted 

i 



PROSPERITY OF THE COLONIES. 167 

to a hundred and eighty. The merchants, however, complained 
most loudly, that they had laid out a large capital without re- 
ceiving or having any prospect of the slightest return. After 
much discussion, it was determined that the colonists should now 
supply themselves with everything, and for past services should, 
during nine years, pay 200/. annually. Eight adventurers, on 
receiving a monopoly of the trade for six years, undertook to 
meet this engagement ; so that the settlers were now established 
in the full property of their lands. In six years more their 
number had risen to three hundred. 

The Plymouth Company, meantime, continued their abortive 
efforts to derive some benefit from their vast domains ; being 
particularly solicitous to stop the active trade and fishery 
carried on in defiance of them. Francis West was appointed 
admiral, and Robert Gorges, lieutenant-general of New Eng- 
land, with strict injunctions to restrain interlopers; but in an 
ocean and continent almost equally wide and waste, they could 
effect little. The most important grant was to Robert, son of 
Sir Ferdinand Gorges, who, obtaining a large portion of what 
is now called New Hampshire, employed Captain Mason, a 
person of great activity, to colonize it ; and hence were built 
Dover and Portsmouth on the Piscataqua. These, however, 
made only a slow progress ; nor was it till the death of their 
founders, that, being left nearly to themselves, they drew 
gradual accessions both from home and the adjoining colony. 
The crews, also, who sought timber and fish on the coast of 
Maine, began to form fixed stations on the Penobscot and Ken- 
nebec. 

The emigration, however, which was to render New Eng- 
land a flourishing colony, was again derived from the suspicion 
and dread which always attend rehgious persecution. It seems 
to have abated towards the end of James's reign, Abbot, the 
primate, being a man of mild temper, and averse to violent mea- 
sures. In 1625, Charles I. succeeded, a young prince of vir- 
tuous dispositions, but of an obstinate and despotic temper, at- 



168 SETTLEMENT (Jf NEW ENGLAND. 

tached with a conscientious but blind zeal to the English church, 
and probably imbibing from his queen Henrietta some favour 
for popish ceremonies. He threw himself into the arms of 
Laud, bishop of London, a zealot in the same cause, and they 
entered together on a career oppressive to the nation, and ulti- 
mately fatal to themselves. 

Laud proceeded with the utmost severity, not only against 
the doctrine of the puritans, but against any particular display 
of it, such as preaching on week-days, enforcing a rigid observ- 
ance of the Sabbath, rebuking for drunkenness or other open sin. 
These steps were sufficient, according to circumstances, to pro- 
duce censure, suspension, and deprivation. All the popular 
ministers in the kingdom were thus either silenced or under im- 
mediate peril of this sentence ; and hence a great part of the 
nation was deprived of any ministration which they considered 
profitable or edifying. Yet loyalty was still powerful, and they 
were not ripe for that terrible resistance, to which they were 
afterwards impelled. Their only refuge seemed to be in some 
distant region, whither the power of Laud could not reach, and 
where they might enjoy a form of worship which they esteemed 
pure and scriptural. 

In 1625, Roger Conant, with some mercantile aid, but 
chiefly inspired by religious zeal, had established a body of 
settlers near Cape Ann ; their sufferings, however, w^ere so 
severe, that they determined to return to England. White, 
however, an eminent minister of Dorchester, entreated him to 
remain, promising that he should receive a patent, friends, goods, 
provisions, and everything he could desire. This zealous clergy- 
man held communication with many persons in his own neigh- 
bourhood, in London, and other quarters, particularly Lincoln- 
shire ; who, with zeal for rehgious purity, united energy of 
character, and in many cases considerable property. They 
found no difficulty in purchasing from the Plymouth Company 
an extensive tract, including all the coast between the rivers 
Charles and Merrimac, and across to the Pacific Ocean. They 



ARRIVAL OF COLONISTS. 169 

even obtained, though not without cost and trouble, a charter 
from Charles, under the title of " The Company of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay." On the delicate topic of religion, the governor 
was impowered, but not required, to administer the oath of 
supremacy ; and there was no other mention of the subject. 

On the 1st May, 1629, six vessels, having on board about 
two hundred passengers, including four clergymen, sailed from 
the Isle of Wight. Smith would evidently have been glad to 
co-operate ; but difference of religious views seems again to 
have prevented negotiation. He describes them " an absolute 
crew, only of the elect, holding all but such as themselves as 
reprobate ;" and before sailing, all those persons were dismissed 
whose character was thought to make them unsuitable com- 
panions. The seamen were surprised and edified by the new 
scene which their ships presented, — prayer and exposition of 
the word two or three times a day ; the Sabbath entirely spent 
in preaching and catechising ; repeated and solemn fasts for the 
success of the voyage. They arrived on the 24th June, and 
found only eight or ten hovels, which, with others scattered 
along the coast, contained about one hundred settlers. A site, 
already marked out, had its name changed from Nahumkeik to 
Salem ; while a large party removed to Mishaum, which they 
called Charleston. 

The colonists suffered severely during the winter under the 
asual evils of a new settlement, especially in so rigorous a 
climate. No fewer than eighty died ; yet the spirits of the rest 
continued unbroken, and they transmitted by no means unfavour- 
able reports to England. An extraordinary movement had in 
'he mean time taken place among those to whom their religious 
welfare was an object of paramount interest ; and their prompt- 
tude to remove was greatly increased by an arrangement, ac- 
cording to which the meetings of the company might be held in 
New England. The colonists thus carried the charter along 
;vith them, and were entirely released from all dependence upon 
jrreat Britain. A body of emigrants was formed, much supe- 
15 



170 SETTLEMENT \)F NEW ENGLAND. 

rior to their predecessors in numbers, wealth, education, and 
intelligence. The principal lay members were, Winthrop, Dud-- 
ley, and Johnson ; the two first of whom were successively? 
governors, while the other was accompanied by his wife. Lady 
Arabella, a daughter of the house of Lincoln. 

The party thus assembled from various quarters was ready 
to sail early in the spring of 1630. The expedition consisted! 
of seventeen vessels, and nearly fifteen hundred settlers, who 
were respectable as well for their intelligence as for their ranki 
in society. They had, however, received a false impression, 
that they were going to a land already in the enjoyment off 
plenty ; whereas the existing settlers were looking anxiously too 
them for supplies. Want of food and shelter, and a change inn 
the habits of life, which with many of them had been those off 
ease and comfort, produced the usual distressing consequences;; 
and in the first month from eighty to one hundred died, amongo 
whom Lady Arabella and her husband were particularly Ian 
mented. The hopes of religion, the firmness of the leaderss 
and the high motives by which they were inspired, carried theiri 
through this period of heavy trial. They spread themselves 
over the coast, — a large proportion going to Charleston. Parr| 
of these were attracted by a situation at the very head of the( 
bay, named by the Indians Shawmut, where they founded a towri 
called first Trimountain, and afterwards Boston, under whiclj 
name it has become famous. 

Emigration during the next two years considerably diminish 
ed, probably owing to the reports being less favourable. Ii 
the course of that time, however, the industry of the colonist 
greatly improved their situation. Winthrop even laments tha 
the high wages of labour, amounting to 2s. %d. a day, led tn 
idleness and dissipation. These accounts were transmitted t<: 
England, where the puritan spirit was gaining new strength 
while Charles and Laud were using additional efforts to sup 
press it ; hence the emigration of 1633 became highly ira 
portant, including several distinguished clergymen. The chie 



SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON. 



171 




Settlement of Boston. 



: of these was Mr. Cotton of Boston, in Llncolnsliire, the most 
: esteemed of all the puritan ministers. He was accompanied 
by Hooker and Stone, to obtain the benefit of whose minis- 
trations many were induced to attach themselves to the expe- 
dition. 

In 1634, a fleet of twenty sail carried out numerous colonists, 
among whom was Sir Henry Yane, who became afterwards one 
of the most distinguished characters of the age. As popula- 
tion increased, the range of settlement was extended ; and, 
in 1636, a detachment proceeded to the Connecticut river to 
occupy a station for some time projected. In 1637, a large 
squadron was in preparation, when the court took the alarm. 
The nation seemicd about to be drained of its people, and Eng- 
]' land as it were to be moving across the Atlantic. The well- 
;f known and unwelcome cause rendered it only wonderful that so 



172 SETTLEMENT of NEW ENGLAND. 

much indulgence had hitherto been shown. A proclamation 
was now issued against " the disorderly transporting of his ma- 
jesty's subjects to America," and the lord treasurer was directed 
to stay the vessels now in the Thames, and cause the passengers 
and goods to be landed. The discontent at this measure was 
extreme ; loud complaints were made by the puritans that they 
were neither allowed to Hve in nor to depart out of the king- 
dom. By special permission, in fact, or even without it, most 
of them reached the coast of New England. 

But the insurrection, which was afterwards excited by the 
attempt to impose the liturgy on Scotland, the enforced calling 
of a parliament, and the memorable train of consequent changes, 
made persecution cease, and removed all disposition to leave 
England. Emigration was thus for a long time almost entirely 
suspended ; yet not till the foundations of a great and powerful 
colony had been laid. In the course of ten years, there had ar- 
rived about twenty-one thousand emigrants in one hundred and 
ninety-eight ships, and carrying with them property, estimated, 
we imagine much too low, at 200,000/. 

The people, thus established on the shores of New England, 
were of a peculiar, and in many respects valuable character. 
They regarded their rehgious welfare as the object in hfe to 
which every other ought to be considered secondary. Their 
desire was, that the Scriptures should be the basis on which the 
whole frame-work of their society should rest. The main- 
tenance of their rigid principles, in the face of a brow-beating 
opposition, induced a somewhat stern temper, not quite in unison 
wdth the mild spirit of the gospel. But their anxiety to regu- 
late their life by its pure precepts, the fixed and persevering 
character which these high motives gave to their exertions, w^ere 
pecuUarly valuable in a situation where there was so much both 
to be done and to be suffered. 

In pursuance of these principles, the right of citizenship was 
confined to church members. To this privilege the candidate 
was admitted by the minister and lay elders, who required not 



FORM OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. 173 

only a suitable profession, but such a disclosure of his experience 
as might enable them to judge of his spiritual state. 

The emigrants had belonged to the church of England, in 
which, under certain conditions, they had been willing to remain. 
But when left to their own uncontrolled decision, they not only 
rejected all the obnoxious ceremonies, but constituted every 
congregation, with the ministers and elders of its own election, 
independent of all other ecclesiastical power. They formed, 
however, a platform of doctrine and discipline, to which all 
were required to conform. This was carried so far, that a 
party, who insisted upon still maintaining the rites of their 
original church, were obliged to return to England. A new 
code of laws was established, rather upon scriptural precedents 
than upon civil statute. Offences against property were dealt 
with more mildly than till very lately in any European coun- 
try ; the guilty person being only sentenced to make ample 
restitution, or, in extreme cases, to be sold into slavery. But 
blasphemy, reviling of religion and worship, contemptuous 
profanation of the Lord's day, and, finally, the breach of the 
marriage vow, were declared capital. No severity could pre- 
vent the extensive prevalence of such disorders ; yet such was 
the awe over the public mind, that the discovery was usually 
made by the offender confessing and surrendering himself to 
justice. 

In regard to political liberty, the colonists equally went be- 
yond what was intended or expected. By the original charter, 
the whole power, legislative and executive, was vested in a 
governor, deputy-governor, and thirteen assistants, to be chosen 
by the members or freemen, not of the colony, but of the com- 
pany. These, at least four times a year, were to meet and de- 
cide on important concerns. To the first emigrants the court 
graciously allowed the choice of two assistants ; in other re- 
spects, they had not a vestige of political privilege. This arbi- 
trary government was, by the simple transference of the sittings 
Df the company to America, converted into an almost pure de- 
15* 



174 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

mocracy. Its freemen were then held to be the entire body of 
the settlers, limited only by the spiritual qualification ; they 
elected all the executive officers, and exercised the supreme i 
power. As their assembly in a body, however, was incon- 
venient, a meeting of two deputies from each township was 
arranged to assist in the processes of legislation. Thus New 
England was formed at once into a representative republic. 

These transactions tended seriously to displease many lead- 
ing men in England. A petition was presented from Gorges, 
Mason, and some refugees, complaining of arbitrary and violent 
proceedings, tending to the dishonour of the country, and the 
ultimate ruin of the settlement. 

These representations were too well suited to the temper of 
the ruling party not to produce an effect. In 1634, an inquiry 
was raised as to the system of colonial church disciphne ; and 
the letters patent of the company were required to be produced. 
A commission, with the Archbishop of Canterbury at its head, 
was invested with full authority to regulate the civil and ecclesi- 
astical affairs of New England. In this exigency, the settlers i 
opposed a passive resistance, in which they were supported by 
their clergy ; without directly refusing to comply, they took no i 
notice of having received the mandates ; but, in case matters ; 
should come to extremity, they subscribed a considerable sum to 
fortify the town of Boston, 

Meantime, restraints were placed upon emigration ; none 
above the rank of serving-men were allowed to remove with- 
out special leave; and these were required to take the oaths > 
of supremacy and allegiance. These measures were followed! 
up in 1635 by a quo warranto, entered against the company in 
the Coui-t of King's Bench. Judgment was pronounced accord- 
ingly ; but before the proceedings were closed, Mason, the most 
active instigator of them, died. This produced a temporary 
suspension, and the unabated rigour towards the non-conformists s 
caused large emigrations. These, in the spring of 1637, roused 
with pecuHar force the jealousy of the court, and, as formerly 



RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 175 

mentioned, an order was sent to stay them. At the same time, 
the proceedings instituted for subverting the patent were re- 
vived, and a demand was sent out, that it should be returned, 
with a threat, in case of refusal, that the king would assume 
the whole administration into his own hands. The leading 
men of the colony drew up a very spirited remonstrance, 
representing the extreme hardship of this proceeding, and even 
cautiously intimating a danger of popular resistance. This, 
probably, w^ould have little availed them, had not Charles, at 
the time of its arrival, found himself involved in the disastrous 
contest, arising out of his attempts upon Scotland, which, so 
far as he was personally concerned, brought matters to a fatal 
termination. 

But the diversion hereby produced did not procure for the 
colony the repose which was so desirable. The religious feel- 
ing which ought to have inspired a spirit of peace, became, 
through an unfortunate combination of circumstances, a fertile 
source of discord. Among the Protestants, two classes might 
be distinctly traced, who soon became bitterly opposed to each 
other. The one having, as they conceived, thrown off the 
errors of popery, and estabhshed a new system of doctrine and 
worship founded on the Scriptures, sought to re-establish on 
this new basis that spiritual unity which appeared to them most 
desirable. 

This party not only strongly condemned farther innovation, 
but employed compulsory and sometimes violent measures against 
it. The other class, on the contrary, insisted that the Refor- 
mation was only begun, and should be a continued and progres- 
sive movement. They sought, not a gradual change, but a 
new one as mighty as that already produced ; one by which, in 
short, everything that was now sacred might become profane. 
This object was sought not by study, inquiry, or the learned 
interpretation of holy writ, all which were condemned or de- 
spised. Their place was supplied by inward and sensible reve- 
lations and prophetic ecstasies. These, coming direct from on 



176 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

high, were represented as not only rendering all human learning 
utterly superfluous, but even the sacred volume itself of se- 
condary value. Yet it is remarkable that this class first ori- 
ginated and zealously supported the great principle of rehgious j 
liberty. ^ 

The first of these classes, when they saw their churches half- 
deserted from the multitude thronging after strange teachers, | 
resolved to suppress the movement of their opponents. They, ' 
therefore, passed a law making it a capital offence for any one 
to attempt to seduce others. In fact, however, banishment was j 
usually awarded, less as a punishment than as a means of de- ' 
livering the society from them ; and it was only when they 
resisted it, that other penalties, sometimes of extreme severity, 
were successively inflicted. 

The first great schism which rent the colony was raised by 
Roger Williams, a young divine, who went out in the year 
1631, and soon becoming highly popular, was chosen minister 
of Salem. Considerable learning, an ardent eloquence, and a 
temper peculiarly amiable, or, as Winslow expresses it, '* a 
lovely carriage," rendered him a general favourite. For some 
time he was equally beloved by clergy and people ; but he soon 
began to adopt peculiar notions, which he gradually extended, 
till at last he withdrew from the communion of all the churches 
both in England and America, denouncing them as quite un- 
scriptural. 

The ministers and rulers of the colony are described as 
cherishing a strong personal attachment to Williams, and feel- 
ing much grief, when every arrival from Salem brought ac- 
counts of some new flight he had taken. He began by pro- 
claiming that King James had pubHcly told a solemn lie when 
he named the English as the first discoverers of the coast. 
Although this was considered a speaking evil of dignities, yet 
being only a speculative and somewhat doubtful question, it 
was passed over. He then proclaimed that the English had no 
right whatever to the lands occupied ; but this opinion, too, 



BANISHMENT OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 177 

founded on equitable principles, was, on proper explanation, at 
least excused. He denounced and even raised a tumult on the 
subject of the red cross in the banner ; this also was com- 
promised. But when he proclaimed all the churches in the 
colony as antichristian, and excommimicated such of his parish- 
ioners as held any intercourse with them, the ire of the ministers 
and rulers was kindled. They seem, indeed, to have had suf- 
ficient ground to provide another pastor for the people of Salem, 
from whom all spiritual ministrations were now withheld. 

Not, however, content with this step, they forthwith con- 
vened a general court, and by no very large majority passed a 
sentence of banishment. Apprehensions were entertained, aris- 
ing from the attachment of the people of Salem to him ; but on 
the subject being represented to them, they acquiesced without 
a dissentient voice. As the rigour of winter had set in, they 
determined at first so far to mitigate his doom as to allow him 
to remain till spring. Information being received, however, 
that he continued actively, and with considerable success to dis- 
seminate his opinions, the somewhat harsh resolution was formed 
of immediately shipping him for his native land. This might 
have appeared a milder exile than into the unexplored wilds of 
America ; but he seems to have formed the ambition of found- 
ing a transatlantic colony, modelled entirely according to his 
own peculiar ideas. Accordingly, on learning that a warrant 
had been issued against him, he set out with a few followers, to 
seek shelter in the vast wilderness. His sufferings, in the ex- 
tremity of winter, without bed, bread, or any shelter but in the 
hollow of a tree, may be easily imagined. He describes himself 
as " plucked up by the roots, beset with losses, distractions, 
miseries, hardships of sea and land, debts and wants." The 
ministers still kept up a kindly correspondence, to which he 
answered, expressing his esteem, and bitterly acknowledging 
^' their sympathy with one so afflicted and persecuted by them- 
selves ;" yet wonders why he, whom they named " beloved in 
Jesus," should be forbidden to breathe the same air, and inhabit 



178 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 




Banisliment of Roger Williams. 



the common earth. His first shelter was from the Indian sachems 
Massassoit and Canonicus, whom he had conciliated by respect 
for their rights and by kindly behaviour. " The ravens," he says, 
" fed him in the wilderness." He attempted first a settlement 
at Seekonk, but finding it to be within the jurisdiction of Ply- 
mouth, crossed over to the fine territory of Rhode Island, where 
he encountered no prior European titles. Here, having pro- 
claimed a general rehgious liberty and established a mild rule, 
he rendered his colony a refuge for all the partisans of the 
movement ; and as these, soon afterwards, became extremely 
numerous, the population rapidly increased, till Rhode Island 
acquired an important place among the states of New England, 



FEMALE FANATICISM. 179 

The Massachusetts rulers, however, had scarcely eradicated 
from their land the seeds of this heresy, when they were assailed 
by a more formidable one from a very unexpected quarter. The 
colonists, having made so many sacrifices for the sake of religion, 
devoted to it an almost exclusive attention, which might require 
to be supported by some novelty. The men, involved in many 
occupations and difficulties, had less leisure to ponder the sub- 
ject ; but of the female emigrants, many, raised by their situa- 
tion above toil, devoted their whole minds to this study. They 
soon became convinced of their capacity to treat with success its 
most abstruse dogmas, and to discover errors in the most learned 
ministers. A privilege had been granted to hearers, at the end 
of the sermon, to ask questions, " wisely and sparingly ;" and 
this they used for the purpose of putting searching interroga- 
tories, calculated to expose the errors of the preacher and the 
superior wisdom of the inquirer. The ministers, annoyed by 
these conferences, determined altogether to exclude from them 
the female part of their congregations ; but these zealous theo- 
logians, naturally dissatisfied with such treatment, resolved not 
to cease their discussions. Mrs. Hutchinson, a Lincolnshire 
lady of good birth and great energy of character, held every 
Sabbath evening a numerous meeting, w^here these topics were 
discussed at full length ; and the conclusion was attained that 
the teachers and congregations of the colony were alike in total 
darkness, and must undergo a radical change before they could 
hope for divine favour. 

The doctrines embraced with such ardent zeal wer» those 
termed antinomian, into the details of which we shall not at 
present enter. According to them, salvation depended wholly 
upon unconditional election, which, being made known to its 
object by a supernatural assurance, rendered reformation of 
heart and conduct w^holly superfluous, even as a test of his 
spiritual state. It is not, indeed, alleged that this doctrine led 
its female advocates, at least, to indulge profligate and immoral 
habits. The clergy, however, though their tenets were de- 



180 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

cidedly Calvinistic, strenuously inculcated reformation of man- 
ners as the test of a sound spiritual state, and viewed with alarm 
the doctrine of their opponents, as tending to make an entire 
separation between faith and practice. The doctrine of the 
first was distinguished as a Covenant of Faith, while their 
opponents were said to be under a Covenant of Works, 

Although this heresy was as yet only partial, it w^as easy to 
foresee, from the class among whom it arose, that the diffusion 
would be rapid. The clergy, hitherto regarded with such pro- 
found respect, soon learned that they were denounced in the 
female coterie as the blind leaders of the blind, and that the 
majority of the people of Boston were completely alienated. 
Many who had crossed three thousand miles of ocean, and 
braved death itself, to sit under their ministry, w^ould not now 
listen to a w^ord which they uttered. Their churches, if not 
deserted, were at least greatly thinned ; while that of Mr. 
Wheelwright, brother-in-law to Mrs. Hutchinson, and a zealous 
advocate of her views, could not contain the crowds that thronged 
for admission. 

The older ministers themselves were somewhat divided. Of 
Mr. Wilson and Mr. Cotton, the two most distinguished and 
influential, the former inveighed against the new tenets with ex- 
treme violence, while the latter treated them with indulgence, 
and was even regarded as one of their votaries. Mrs. Hutchin- 
son had gone out to enjoy his ministry, and a close intimacy 
prevailed betw^een them. Henry Vane,, too, a youth of splendid 
talents, heir to a princely fortune, and son to Charles I.'s chief 
secretary, having embraced w^ith zeal puritan principles, utterly 
opposed to those of his father, was induced to prefer the so- 
ciety of Massachusetts to that of England. He took up his 
residence with Mr. Cotton. The colonists gave him the most 
ardent welcome, exulting in the preference shown by such a 
man to their rising settlement ; while the objection derived from 
his youth was removed by his gravity and deep theological learn- 
ing. At the next annual election of governor, he was raised to 



SIR HENRY VAJME. 



181 




Sir Henry Vane the younger. 



that station, at the early age of twenty-four. He was a de- 
cided partisan of the movement or independent party, of which 
in England he became the head, next to Cromwell, and with 
much greater consistency. The rise of the antinomian tenets 
disturbed his government. Whether he actually embraced them 
cannot be fully ascertained ; but he continued intimate with 
their supporters, and being an advocate of religious freedom, 
effectually checked any measures for their suppression. The 
old party, therefore, considered his removal essential to their 
object, and on the next election brought forward Mr. Winthrop, 
A struggle of extraordinary violence took place ; and the anti- 
nomians, in their effort to obtain " gospel magistrates," were 
supported by a large majority in Boston. But the country dis- 
tricts adhered to their old ministers; and they formed the 
16 



182 SETTLEMENT (5F NEW ENGLAND. 




Governor Winthrop. 

greater number. Lest they should be seduced or intimidated 
by the citizens, it was carried, though not without difficulty, 
that the election should be made at Cambridge. It went de- 
cidedly in favour of Winthrop ; and Vane soon after returned 
to England. He was subsequently murdered with judicial 
forms by Charles II. after his restoration. " The people of Eng- 
land were so outraged at the injustice of Vane's trial and condem- 
nation, as to occasion serious alarm to the court party, who were 
fain to make their peace by restoring to his family the titles 
and estates, which they have ever since enjoyed. The late 
head of the family, the Duke of Cleveland, was true to the 
principles of his illustrious ancestor ; and although elevated to 
the rank of the highest aristocracy, was an earnest advocate for 
popular rights."* 

* Pictorial History of the United States. 



FIRST RELIGIOUS SYNOD. 183 

The party again established in power lost no time in taking 
measures to suppress the reigning schism. Accordingly, a gene- 
ral synod was called to meet at Cambridge. This was a new 
step, each congregation having hitherto acted almost as a 
separate body ; and it kindled an extraordinary interest. By 
way of preparation, a solemn fast was appointed, by which it 
was hoped men's minds might be brought into a suitably calm 
and deliberate frame ; yet it only rendered them more im- 
bittered. 

On the 30th of August, 1637, the synod met, consisting of 
the preachers, deputies from the congregations, and the magis- 
trates ; while the people, in as great numbers as the place could 
contain, were admitted as hearers. The accused parties were 
allowed a place, and the liberty of speech, which they are said 
to have used beyond all proper limits. The debates were 
stormy, and there are on both sides allegations, seemingly not 
unfounded, of clamour and violence. During three weeks, the 
subject was discussed, but the issue was a unanimous sentence 
of condemnation. 

Having achieved this public triumph, the members fondly 
hoped that they had gained their object, and that the heretical 
party would no longer rear its head ; and hence they were not a 
little discomposed to find all things proceeding exactly as before. 
Mrs. Hutchinson's private meeting and Mr. Wheelwright's 
chapel w'ere frequented by equal crowds, while Mr. Wilson, 
who once enjoyed extreme popularity, no sooner entered a pul- 
pit than half the congregation rose and went out. All legitimate 
means of subduing the opposite party having thus proved vain, 
the unjust resolution was formed to employ the civil arm in its 
suppression. Proceedings had already been instituted against 
Mr. Wheelwright, but had been delayed till the effect of the 
synodical decision was tried. On its proving fruitless, he was 
again called upon to acknowledge his offence, and engage not 
to repeat it ; but he refused to make the slightest concession, 
maintaining that he had simply declared the truth, and if there 



184 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

was anything in it that bore hard upon the ministers, the appli- 
cation was of their own making. Hereupon he was ordered 
to depart from the colony within a fortnight. A number of 
persons were then summoned, who, on occasion of the last pro- • 
ceedings against him, had signed a remonstrance declaring their ' 
concurrence with everything he had said, and warning the 
court " to beware how they meddled with the prophets of 
God." Two of this body were banished, two fined and dis- 
franchised, and several deprived of their places under govern-- 
ment. 

All these were only preliminaries to the attack on the maim 
hold of antinomianism in the person of Mrs. Hutchinson. Hav-- 
ing been found guilty of heresy, she was ordered to leave the 
colony within six months. She retired with a number of her; 
followers to Rhode Island, where Williams gave her a cordial 1 
reception. Her husband was for some time governor of thatt 
colony, after whose death she purchased the small island of- 
Aquiday, where she was unhappily surprised, and with herr 
whole family murdered by a band of Indians. This event had! 
no real connexion with her banishment, not happening till sixt 
years after ; yet it caused a strong sensation, heightening the? 
sympathies of some, while by others it was regarded as a judg-- 
ment. 

Some years subsequently, after a good deal of negotiation, an 
important arrangement was made. A union or rather con- 
federacy was formed by the four colonies of Massachusetts,, 
New Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut, with the viewv 
of protecting themselves against the Dutch and French colo- 
nists, and more especially against the Indians. The executivei 
body consisted of two commissioners from each colony, whosei 
only qualification was church membership. They had no right! 
to interfere in the internal jurisdiction of any of the states;; 
they could only provide for the general defence, declare war,, 
order levies of troops, and conclude peace. They had even no: 
power to enforce their decrees ; they could merely intimatec 



DISSENSIONS IN THE COLONY. 185 

them to the confederated bodies, with whom it rested to carry 
them into execution. As the league could consist only of 
orthodox churches, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine 
were excluded. Williams, considering his situation to be there- 
by rendered precarious, made two visits to England, and, 
through the influence of Vane, obtained a full charter for his 
little colony. 

Massachusetts was about this time agitated by a contest be- 
tween the democratic party and the magistrates, who were 
alleged, notwithstanding the forms of election, to engross al- 
most the whole administration. The former, who for a time 
gained a majority, exercised their power with Httle discretion. 
Riots were excited, and an impeachment was advanced against 
Winthrop the governor, now become the object of general 
esteem. A reaction was thus produced. That gentleman was 
triumphantly acquitted, and continued to be re-elected annually 
during his life ; and though some concessions were granted to 
the radical party, the general tenor of government went on 
nearly as before. 

In 1643, the parliament appointed the Earl of Warwick 
governor-in-chief and lord-high-admiral of the colonies, aided 
by a council of five peers and twelve commoners. 

The colony was soon again involved in danger by an event 

I which strikingly displays the character of the times. One Gor- 

|ton, who had arrived from England, caused such disturbances 
that he was banished, and sought the usual refuge of Rhode 
Island, where he developed his religious system, which appears 
wild in the extreme. He is said to have held that the great 
characters of the New Testament had reappeared, and were 
acting in Massachusetts, — the most wicked of them being iden- 

|tified with its magistrates and ministers; while his votaries 
viewed himself as an incarnation of the divine founder of 
Christianity. The sacraments and ordinances were scouted with 
the most profane derision. Williams complained that " he was 

j bewitching and bemadding poor Providence," that "all sucked 

i 16* 



186 SETTLEJMENT 6F NEW ENGLAND. 

in his poison." At length a compromise was made, that Gor- 
ton should form a separate settlement in a district procured by 
treaty from the Indians. The chief of that nation, however, 
complained that it had been a most violent seizure, his hand 
having been grasped and forcibly applied to the document. He 
appealed to the magistrates of Massachusetts, who readily took 
np the complaint. They appointed a commission to mediate on 
the occasion, who wrote a letter to Gorton, asserted to have 
been very moderate. He returned an answer full of vitupe- 
ration and fury, as well as insolence towards the magistrates. 

The magistrates were not men tamely to endure such con- 
tumely, alleging that they were entitled to deal with him either 
as a refractory subject or a foreign enemy. They sent the com- 
mission attended by forty armed men to bring him a prisoner. 
As they approached, Gorton's confidence in supernatural aid 
began to waver, and jie proposed a reference to Williams ; but 
this appeared a quarter not sufficiently friendly, nor were they 
now disposed to stop. He and his adherents sought to defend 
themselves in a large fortified house ; but on the first attack the 
greater number fled ; the rest, himself included, were taken and 
conveyed to Boston. The court proceeded to the violent step 
of condemning him to death ; but the deputies merely ordained 
that he and his followers should labour in chains in different dis- 
tricts. It being found that under this martyrdom they both 
excited sympathy and gained converts, they were soon set at 
liberty, when Gorton repaired to England. 

The rulers of New England were thus for a long period 
exempt from any troubles except those springing from the suc- 
cession of new sects, and their own pertinacious attempts to sup- 
press them. It was no doubt a severe trial to the ministers, 
who appear really to have been, as they describe themselves, 
" faithful, watchful, and painful, serving their flocks daily with 
prayers and tears, with their most studied sermons and writ- 
ings," to see ignorant, half-crazed enthusiasts enjoy the whole 
popular favour and render their churches almost empty. The 



RISE OF THE QUAKERS. 187 

next whom they had to encounter were the Anabaptists, a Ger- 
man sect who, after passing into England, had crossed the 
Atlantic. ' Obadiah Holmes first formed a small congregation in 
the Plymouth territory, which rapidly spread, and seems gene- 
rally to have absorbed the former classes of the movement. A 
sister of Mrs. Hutchinson embraced it, and made a convert of 
Williams, who, at an advanced age, was baptized anew. Its 
rise at Boston was at first obscurely indicated by the retirement 
Df numbers from church before the rite was administered, who 
repaired to private meetings and secret re-baptism. The rulers 
bad recourse to fines and even whipping ; and, finding that 
these w^ere endured w^ith courage and constancy, they proceeded 
to inflict banishment. The leaders having been thus driven 
into the general receptacle at Rhode Island, the others sunk at 
ileast into a state of silence. 

, Eut the tranquillity thereby obtained was of short duration; 
jand it was followed by a schism which much more strongly 
jagitated the colony, and involved it in deeper reproach. There 
had arisen a sect, who, from certain irregular bodily movements, 
;received the derisive name of Quakers. They seem to have 
Iproceeded to the utmost extremes, rejecting all human learning 
as w^ell as ordinances, and placing their whole dependence on 
the direct agency of the Spirit. Williams, as we have seen, 
regarded this as the only source of rehgious instruction ; but, 
believing it be w^ithheld, he placed the world in a state of entire 
spiritual darkness. This was completely remedied under the 
Quaker system; in which every word and every action were 
understood to be guided by supernatural impulses. 

The New England julers, having heard of their proceedings 
with horror, and knowing the inflammable character of their 
iown congregations, prepared to meet them with the most rigor- 
ous exclusion, and certainly withviut regard either to the forms 
or substance of law. In July, 1656, when Mary Fisher and 
Anne Austin arrived from Barbadoes, an oflficer was instantly 
sent on board, who conveyed them to prison, and seized all 



188 SETTLEMENT bF NEW ENGLAND. 

their books and papers, some of which were burned by the coi 
mon executioner. They were denied pen, ink, paper, and cai 
die, and a window which opened to the street was boarded uj 
After some weeks' confinement, the captain who brought thei 
was obliged to take them away at his own expense, and give?' 
bond in 100/. to land them in Europe. 

The rulers, having held the two prophetesses in such rigoroussi 
seclusion, hoped that all danger of contamination was prevented ; : 
but they were soon somewhat disconcerted upon receiving a re-- 
monstrance, tenderly entreating them to beware, lest they should! 
be found fighting against God. The writer, w^ho proved am 
old church member, was immediately fined and banished. Eng-- 
land, however, sent out a continued succession, who found ini 
Rhode Island a secure point upon which they could retreat, andl 
whence they could advance. But the fine, the lash, imprison- - 
ment, and finally death, awaited many of them. It ought,,, 
however, to be kept in mind that the magistrates merely in-i- 
tended to inflict banishment, which, in their actual circum-- 
stances, amounted only to exclusion. The former sectaries had 1 
submitted to this sentence, and the district had been cleared of F 
them; but not so the Quakers, who had no sooner been thrust t 
out than they reappeared, proclaiming their doctrines with the i 
same loud and enthusiastic zeal. The extreme punishments, , 
therefore, were inflicted, not on account of their opinions, but fon" 
returning from banishment. A few were executed for thus re- 
turning. 

These proceedings raised a general clamour, and many 
persons transmitted to England representations against them. 
Charles II., who did not want humanity, WTote to Endicott, 
the governor, ordering that all capital punishments on this ground ! 
should be stopped, and the accused sent home to be tried. The 
colonists, though not recognising the king's powder to issue such i 
mandates, did not choose to disobey. They contrived, however, . 
to inflict minor penalties and indignities, throwing the enthusi- 
asts into prison, and whipping them out of the district. A 



DECLINE OF FANATICISM. 189 

resh appeal made to Charles upon these subjects did not meet 
vith any regard ; but the representations of eminent ministers 
f their own persuasion, as well as the death of Wilson and 
^ndicott, v^ho were succeeded by men breathing a more rea- 
onable spirit, gradually induced a corresponding treatment. 
Quakerism, as already hinted, may be considered the extreme 
imit of the ultra-protestant movement. No other sect passed 
>eyond it; on the contrary, the spirit of the age gradually 
urned itself to the exercise of reason, and the employment of 
earning upon religious subjects, even to the verge of indiffer- 
:nce. The Quakers and Baptists themselves assumed a more 
ober character, renounced their extravagant pretensions, and, 
etaining a tempered zeal, became useful citizens and active 
)hilanthropists. 

The people of Massachusetts had now a hard contest to 
Qaintain for their political existence. Having been forgotten 
luring the civil wars, having evaded the claims of supremacy 
Qade by the Long Parliament, having received favour from 
>omwell, they had acted almost completely as an independent 
epubhc. They were exceedingly anxious to continue so, and 
lence by no means shared the national joy at the Restoration. 
Ul their sympathies were on the other side. Whalley and 
joffe, obliged to flee from England as accessary to the death 
f Charles I., were kindly received ; and even after it was no 
onger possible to shelter them, their escape into the back settle- 
Qents was favoured. The unwelcome intelligence was met, as 
ong as possible, with an obstinate incredulity. When, at 
ength, doubt could be no longer pretended, they drew up an 
ddress to the king; which was graciously received. Yet 
jeverett, their agent, warned them, that they were in very bad 
)dour with those royalist statesmen in whom the whole power 
vas now vested, and that serious innovations might be dreaded. 
Co avert these evils, they sent over Bradstreet (afterwards 
governor) and Norton, now the most eminent of the ministers. 
The envoys were received courteously, and on their departure 

II 



190 SETTLEMENT 'OF NEW ENGLAND. 

obtained an answer, by which the king confirmed their charter, 
and granted pardon for political offences to all who were not 
actually attainted. He demanded, in return, the repeal of all 
laws derogatory to his prerogative ; in particular, that worship i 
should be allowed according to the use of the Church of Eng- 
land, and that freeholders otherwise qualified should not be ex- 
cluded for their religious opinions. These demands, thoughi, 
moderate, and in some respects laudable, w^ere extremely unwel-J' 
come, especially the last of them. Above all, they involved 
that right of internal interference which they were most anxious : 
to resist ; but they had still the consolation that the executive 
being in their hands, they could proceed at leisure. The king 
was proclaimed in full pomp ; his name was inserted in the 
writs ; other things for the present remained as before. 

The court and ministry of England, with Clarendon at their 
head, were disposed to treat the colony well, but by no means ; 
to exempt them from the obligations of subjects. Complaints, 
meanwhile, poured in from Episcopalians, Quakers, and Ana- 
baptists, as also from Gorges and Mason, respecting New 
Hampshire. 

Commissioners, therefore, being sent out to direct an expedi- • 
tion against New York, were instructed also to hear and deter- • 
mine complaints in causes military, civil, and criminal, w^ithin 
New England, and to proceed in all things for settling the peace 
of the country. This intelligence was received nearly as if it 
had been that of a foreign invasion. A fast was proclaimed ; 
the patent was placed in trusty hands ; and every possible 
precaution was taken to prevent troops from landing. When 
the expedition arrived, the general court w^as not sitting, on 
which ground the council evaded giving any immediate answer ; 
and as the squadron soon sailed for New^ York, a respite was ob- 
tained. 

That assembly being called without delay, took into serious 
consideration the present state of affairs. Soon after the resto- 
ration they had prepared a declaration, claiming under the char- 



I OPPOSITION TO THE CROWN. 191 

ter the appointment of the governor and subordinate officers, 
and indeed the whole executive and legislative powers. Their 
allegiance w^as said to consist in upholding that colony as of 
; right belonging to his majesty, and in " preserving his person 
I and dominions," They now determined " to bear true allegi- 
ance to his majesty, and to adhere to a patent so dearly obtained, 
and so long enjoyed by undoubted right." Ready, however, to 
testify their loyalty in any righteous way, they made active 
preparations to levy two hundred men, for the New York expe- 
dition, though, from its speedy success, their services were not 
wanted. The court, nevertheless, drew up a petition to the 
king, claiming the right of self-government as a royal donation 
under the great seal, " the greatest security that may be had in 
human affairs." They represented the commission as involving 
a demand " to yield up our liberties, which are far dearer to us 
than our lives." They concluded : " Let our government live, 
our patent live, our magistrates live, our laws and liberties live, 
our religious enjoyments live, so shall we all yet have farther 
cause to say from our hearts. Let the king live for ever." They 
endeavoured also to interest powerful individuals in England ; 
but their best friends there seem to have been unprepared for so 
lofty a flight. Clarendon wrote, expressing wonder that they 
(should thus violently complain of commissioners without having 
ia single act to charge against them. Secretary Morrice, in the 
[king's name, disclaimed any intention of interfering with their 
barter, but justified the commission as the only mode of exa- 
mining into the numerous complaints. 

Still the colonial court, resolved not to yield, deterred the in- 
habitants by every possible means from any appeal to the com- 
missioners. The latter, having soon succeeded in their first ob- 
ject at New York, proceeded to the more difficult task in Mas- 
sachusetts. They began by demanding that the people of Bos- 
ton should be assembled to hear the royal commission read ; a 
motion which was entirely overruled by the local authorities. 
These last made a courteous statement, showing instances in 



192 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

which they had comphed with the king's letter of 1662, and 
others in which they were wilHng to do so. The commissioners 
expressed their hope that these professions would now be borne 
out by " practical assertions of duty ;" but whenever they at- 
tempted to exercise any of their functions, the strongest objec- 
tions were started, till at length the general court was called upon 
directly to say whether or not they acknowledged the royal com- 
mission. This question was evaded, with such a reference to 
their charter as evidently showed how they really felt. The 
others then determined to bring matters to the test, by fixing a 
day to hear a complaint made to them against the colony. At 
this crisis the court took a very daring step. On the appointed 
morning, a herald by sound of a trumpet proclaimed that no one 
at his peril should pay any regard to a summons pronounced to be 
unlawful. Upon this the envoys declared, that they had nothing 
more to do with men who, having openly defied the king's au- 
thority, could expect only the punishment of rebels. 

It might have been apprehended that Charles would take 
some strong step to vindicate his power, thus daringly opposed. 
Yet, whether from good-nature or reluctance to a contest with 
men who showed such strong determination, he recalled the 
commissioners, and merely required the colony to send deputies i 
to defend their cause in Britain. After full deliberation, they 
thought it wisest to make the best excuses they could for non- 
compliance. They gave, however, all possible aid in the con- 
test with France, sending a supply of masts for the royal navy, 
and of provisions for the West Indies. His majesty, distracted 
by foreign wars, internal factions, and his voluptuous pursuits, 
felt little inclined to enter into a struggle with the hardy sons 
of Massachusetts ; and during the greater part of his reign 
they remained unmolested. They contrived even to evade the 
severe navigation law of 1663, by which all the important 
branches of colonial commerce were required to pass through 
the mother country. They did not indeed openly repel the act, , 
but having its execution in their own hands, they enforced it in 



THE CHARTER CANCELLED. 193 

|uch a manner as best suited their interests. The harbour of 
3oston was crowded with vessels from almost every part of 
Europe and America ; and the colony now enjoyed a rapid 
areer of prosperity. 

The English cabinet, however, looked on them with an evil 
ye, and after Charles had formed a close alliance with France, 
rushed popular factions, and filled his councils with staunch 
(Iherents of absolute power, a decisive change of measures w^as 
3ntemplated. The long-contested claims of Mason to New 
[ampshire and of Gorges to Maine, were brought before the 
jdges and decided against Massachusetts. They contrived in- 
eed, for 1250/., to purchase Maine from the representatives 
f Gorges ; but the other country w^as finally severed from 
leir jurisdiction. In 1684, a quo warranto was issued against 
[assachusetts, and sentence given against the colonists, can- 
dling their charter. 

The colony do not seem to have contemplated any resistance, 
it awaited in gloomy silence the absolute governor who was 
I be imposed upon them. They w^ere struck wdth horror by 

e announcement of Kirke, afterw'ards noted for his bloody 
ireer in the Monmouth rebellion. They were delivered from 
m, and had a short breathing-time in consequence of the death' 
>' Charles II. Amid the occupations of a new reign, no step 
as taken till 1686, when the government was conferred on 
Aidley. He arrived in May, the general court was imme- 
«ately dissolved, and the administration vested in him as pre- 
rlent, and a council named by the crown. His rule was mild, 
iid affairs, on the whole, w^ent on nearly as before. James, 
jwever, learned that there was still too much of the old leaven, 
ad formed the design of uniting all the colonies under one 
pvernment. Sir Edmund Andros arrived in December, 1686, 
ith two companies of troops, instructed to put an end to all 
ppular power, but otherwise to rule with equity. The whole 
jpect of the colony w^as then changed. Instead of the sober 
ad pious manners observed by the rulers, a gay, licentious, and 
17 



194 SETTLEMENT'OF NEW ENGLAND. 

profane conduct became at least no bar to the highest offices. 
An Episcopal chapel was opened, and attended by the governor 
and his officers ; assessments were no longer allowed for churches 
or schools. Toleration, extended to all sects, was an important 
improvement ; yet such was the hostility shown to the reigning 
one, that an alarm arose lest it should be excluded. The 
taxes being found insufficient for the increased expenditure, 
James gave orders that they should be raised to its level. 
But this " ill mode of raising money without assembly" excited 
a passive resistance, met by confiscations and fines, which, asi 
they enriched the hungry adherents of the government, sood 
became the favourite penalty. In vain they appealed to Eng-ii 
lish laws ; they were told not to expect these to follow them tcf 
the end of the world ; when they spoke of their township rights ; 
they were reminded that there was no such thing as a townr 
and that all their local jurisdictions were swept away. Soon 
the enormous pretension was advanced that the lands, havin^i 
all been granted under the patent, were forfeited along with iti 
and reverted to the king. This went to " make all men's title( 
null and void," and in fact to place nearly the whole colonia; 
property under confiscation. The settlers being called on foi 
their titles, stated first the original charter to Adam and Noabl 
supported by actual possession ; this was derided. They thei^ 
produced deeds of purchase from the Indians, to which th( 
marks of chiefs were affixed. They were desired not to men- 
tion these brutes ; they might as well show " the scratches of ; 
bear's paw." They then urged, with much reason, the heavy ex 
pense and labour by which they had " conquered the wilderness,' 
and given to it almost its whole value, and the hardship that ; 
body of strangers should come and inherit everything. A larg 
tract which the town of Lynn had purchased from the Indian 
and enclosed as a common, was sohcited by Randolph, and al 
their pleas treated with contempt. A plot of ground, purchaseu 
at Boston, being similarly grasped at, the proprietors, in ati 
"tempting to resist, were asked if they would " stand suit witii 



THE CHARTER REVIVED. 195 

the king," being warned " they might thus lose all they had 
and something else too." We suspect there was more of bluster 
than of actual spoliation : for in none of the cases is it stated 
that Andros proceeded to the extremity of seizing property. 
Money being the object, it was intimated that new patents 
would be granted on paying the fees, which however amounted 
: to about a fourth of the value. Some were intimidated into 
'. this step ; but it was reckoned that there were not funds in the 
\ colony to have thus repurchased the whole. In this extremity, 
! Increase Mather, escaping by night and in disguise, reached 
England, and laid the grievances of the colony before James. 
! All petitions for a representative government were peremptorily 
rejected ; but there appears a minute of council, that the colo- 
i nists should hold their lands according to their ancient records. 
But James was now on the eve of his fate. Having disgusted 
all parties by his rash and tyrannical conduct, he could not 
w^ithstand the invasion of William, and was obliged to abdicate 
the throne, and leave room for the revolution which has secured 
British liberty. As soon as this inteUigence reached Massachu- 
setts, the people rose in arms with the most unanimous resolu- 
tion that ever inspired a people. Sir Edmund Andros and his 
adherents were imprisoned ; the charter was again put in force ; 
a governor, assistant, and deputies were elected. On receiving 
letter from William, desiring them to continue the govern- 
ment in his name, till he should send more particular direction, 
the two sovereigns were proclaimed at Boston on the 29th of 
iMay, 1689. 

The king, whose liberality was rather of position than of 
character, by no means fully answered their expectations. 
Treby and Sommers, the great Whig lawyers, reported that the 
decision against the charter had been valid ; and hence the con- 
duct of Andros and his officers legal. William was so far from 
ipunishing that governor, that he received him into fiivour, and 
Appointed him to Virginia. It was even understood that he 
suspected the loyalty of Massachusetts ; and doubts were spread 



196 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

whether he would renew the charter at all. It required, in 
fact, three years' solicitation by the agents and friends of the 
colony, generously aided by the queen, before they could obtain 
one, which, in point of fact, materially abridged their former 
independence. The king assumed the nomination of the gover- 
nor, the judges, and the military officers, as well as a veto with- 
in three years on their acts, and a negative on the council named 
by them. Though by no means fully satisfied, they thought it 
best, under all the circumstances of the case, to make no com- 
plaint. In truth, they had obtained privileges still more ample 
than those of any other British subjects. 

Having brought the affairs of the colonists to this satisfactory 
point, we must look back to some transactions which have been 
reserved for the purpose of giving a connected narrative ; the 
most important being their relations with the Indian tribes. 
These were riot so satisfactory as the character of the settlers 
might have led us to hope, especially as compared with the 
Quakers in Pennsylvania. 

Almost from the first establishment of Connecticut, mutual 
wrongs had created an animosity between the settlers and the 
Pequods, the most powerful of all the tribes, who sought, by 
an alHance with their enemies, the Narragansetts, to form a 
general league against them. This scheme had nearly suc- 
ceeded, when it was frustrated by the generous exertions of 
Williams. The English at first were taken by surprise, had 
several small detachments cut off, and were so closely hemmed 
in, that they could not go to their work or even to church with- 
out a strong escort. Captains Mason and Underbill, however, 
having come up with seventy men, determined to attack their r 
main fort, surrounded by a palisade of strong trees, but so) 
loosely put together that musketry could penetrate it. The 
assailants having forced an entrance, set fire to the camp, which i 
was soon reduced to ashes, and above three hundred Indians,, 
men, women, and children, perished in the ruins. The English, , 
whose loss was trifling, pursued the remnant of the tribe frorao 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PEQUODS. 



197 




Destruction of the Pequods. 



place to place, till the whole were either killed or taken pri- 
soners. Forty who had sought refuge among the Mohawks, 
were given up by these savages, and the few others who re- 
mained alive surrendered in despair. 

After the terror inspired by this dreadful overthrow, tranquil- 
lity continued nearly forty years. The Massachusetts govern- 
ment maintained friendly relations with the Indians, allowing 
them, even when unconverted, to settle within its jurisdiction. 
A number of them, as will be afterwards observed, were con- 
verted to Christianity. A disposition arose to imitate the 
English, and even to assume their names; those of Philip, 
Stonewall John, and Sagamore Sam, were borne by powerful 
chiefs. 

As the colonists multiplied, and the circle of settlement ex- 
17* 



198 SETTLEMENT^ OF NEW ENGLAND. 

tended, the natives could not but feel for how paltry a pricdl 
they had sold their once spacious birthright. The enlargedl^^ 
frontier afforded new occasions of dispute ; and the Indians, whenn 
wronged, instead of appealing to the general court, took ven-, 
geance with their own hands. A member of one of the tribes,^, 
having given information against certain of his countrymen, fellH 
a victim to their resentment ; but the murderers were condemnedd 
to death by a jury, of whom half were Indians. In revenge, aa 
small party of English w^re surprised and slain ; and immediatelyy 
war broke out along the whole border. 

The Indians were now much more formidable than in the first! 
contest. During the long interval they had eagerly sought! 
to procure the superior arms wielded by Europeans ; and com-i- 
mercial avidity had supplied them. They had attained no disH- 
cipline, and could not contend in the open field ; but the Eng-;- 
lish soon learned to dread an enemy whose habitations, sayss 
Mather, " were the dark places of the earth ;" who, at mo^- 
ments the most unexpected, rushing from the depth of forests^^, 
surrounded and overwhelmed them. The war began with thee 
burning of frontier villages, and the slaughter of detached par-'-' 
ties. Beers, one of the bravest captains, was surprised andd 
killed, with twenty of his followers. Then came a more '* blackl 
and fatal day." Lothrop commanded with reputation a bodyy 
of fine young men, the flower of the county of Essex, whOjX 
having piled their arms on wagons, were securely reposing andd 
plucking grapes when the alarm was given. After a desperate 
resistance, they were cut off, only a mere handful escaping. 
This was followed by the " Springfield misery." That village, 
the most important on the boundary, was broken into, and every 
building reduced to ashes, except a large one, which, being 
slightly fortified, supplied a refuge to the inhabitants. Others 
soon shared the same fate, in circumstances still more tragical.l 
After kiUing the men, they carried away the women andi 
children ; and, though the honour of the former was not threat-!- 
ened, they were treated with dreadful cruelty. For example^' 



DESTRUCTION OF THE NARRAGANSETTS. 199 

hey were compelled to follow rapid marches, which at this 
ime were frequent, and when found unequal to the effort, were 
4lled at once by blows on the head. 

In the midst of w'inter, one thousand men marched against the 
^nain hold of the Narragansetts. They rushed to the onset ; and 
[\fter a dreadful conflict it was carried, and reduced to ashes,— 
fhe Indians perishing in vast numbers. But the colonists, ap- 
palled by their own loss of three hundred killed and wounded, 
tncluding their six bravest leaders, retreated in great confusion : 
[the enemy, however, were overwhelmed by their disaster, which 
pey never fully recovered. In spring, indeed, they resumed 
;their wonted warfare, but with diminished means and spirit; 
and in May, another of their principal settlements was de- 
stroyed. Driven from their cultivated spots, and finding shelter 
only in woods and marshes, they suffered increasing hardships 
and privations. Discontent and disunion were the consequence ; 
several of the tribes began to make their submission, when par- 
don was granted. Two hundred laid down their arms at Ply- 
mouth ; and Sagamore John came in with one hundred and 
eighty, bringing also Matoonas, accused as the author of this 
dreadful war. In the course of it, had been formed skilful 
officers, particularly Captain Church, who displayed singular 
italents in this desultory contest. In August, he came up with 
Philip himself, who was completely routed, and fled almost 
.alone. Hunted from place to place, he was traced to the centre 
[of a morass, where he was betrayed and shot by one of his own 
people. The spirit of the Indians then entirely sunk ; and all 
iWho survived either emigrated to a distance, or submitted with- 
out reserve to the English power. 

[ There was, however, a wider and ruder frontier, behind New 
.Hampshire and Maine, where the settlers carried on a fur-trade 
I with the natives, who complained of fraud and other wrongs, 
^which do not appear imaginary. Though thereby impelled to 
:deeds of violence, they waged no general w^ar, till roused by 
the example of Massachusetts, when the flame spread along a 



200 SETTLEMENT'OF NEW ENGLAND. 

line of three hundred miles. The colonists, located in a num- 
ber of small detached stations, suffered severely, and thoug 
they gained important advantages, were glad, through Mugg 
ferocious leader, to conclude a treaty granting to them payrnen| 
of rent, or rather of tribute. A long peace followed, durin 
which those plantations continued greatly to prosper ; but i 
1687, the Indians, instigated by the French, recommenced hostili 
ties still more violently than ever. Andros, who endeavoured t 
conciliate this fierce race, treating the prisoners kindly and d 
missing them without ransom, was censured by the colonists 
who accused him, seemingly without any reason, of supply in 
them with arms. Failing in his pacific views, he took the fiel 
in the depth of winter, but, unable to find the enemy, merely 
erected two forts to cover the frontier. The war, however, , 
continued to rage ten years, and the natives, being aided and in i 
some degree disciplined by the French, gained many advantages. . 
The bravest action was at Wells, where Captain Conyers, with a 
fifteen men, repulsed with great slaughter an attack made b 
five hundred Indians. Sir William Phipps erected in the hearj 
of their country the strong fort of Penmaquid ; and some othe 
triumphs being gained over them, led to a peace in 1693, on i 
satisfactory terms. ; 

Our attention is now drawn to a more pleasing subject. Th^ } 
European nations in general had professed a zeal to communi- • 
Gate the light of the gospel to the darkened minds of the na- - 
tives. The Roman Catholics certainly made considerable exer- 
tions, with at least an appearance of success ; but they were 
too easily satisfied with a mere profession and the rite of bap- 
tism. The New England ministers applied to this task with a 
deep sense of its importance, and a desire to produce an effec- 
tive change. In 1646, the general court passed an act recom- 
mending missionary labours, which was zealously responded to 
by Mr. Elliot, who justly obtained the title of the Indian i 
apostle, as well as by Mr. Mayhew, and other zealous in- 
dividuals. A serious difficulty was found in the language, 

.III 



:ha, 

i 



i\ 



CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE INDIANS. 201 




Elliot preaching to the Indians. 



which was full of uncouth sounds, and words of such an enor- 
mous length, that, according to Mather, they appeared to have 
1 been growing ever since Babel, and sometimes required from 
, twenty to thirty of our letters to express them. This obstacle was 
: overcome ; and the natives were found to listen with interest 
, to sermons, which, being judiciously made short, were followed 
by the much-prized privilege of asking questions. Some indeed 
of those put were irrelevant, and even puzzling, — as, why the 
English should know so much more of divine things than them- 
selves ; how their God should understand prayers in the Indian 
language ; why river water was fresh and that of the sea salt ; 
and why the ocean did not rise and overflow the earth. An- 
swers were returned carefully adapted to their conceptions ; and 
a considerable body of converts was gradually formed. They 
were collected by their affectionate pastors into little townshios, 



202 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

where being taught to build more commodious houses, and prac 
tise some useful arts, they were soon better lodged and accom- 
modated than their most powerful sachems. They were per- 
suaded to enact penalties, not only against violence and heinous 
sins, but against their usual rude and uncouth habits. Fines 
were imposed for killing noisome insects between the teeth, for 
besmearing the body with grease, and for indulging in their 
usual wild and frightful bowlings. Women were no longer to 
go about with their hair hanging loose, and bosom uncovered, 
while in return they were protected from the tyrannical treat- 
ment too often inflicted on them ; every man who beat his wife 
had his hands tied behind his back, and suffered an arbitrary 
punishment. In 1674, it was found that fourteen villages had 
been thus formed, estimated to contain about eleven hundred 
converts. These indeed were chiefly confined to districts in the j 
vicinity of Boston. i 

The missionaries were not long in perceiving that powerful i 
obstacles opposed their progress, rendering it difficult even to 
preserve the ground they had gained. The natives were under 
the spiritual sway of certain personages named powaws, who not 
only instilled rude religious notions, but cured their diseases, 
taught them the lucky modes and times of doing things, and were 
their resource in every emergency. By these august personages 
the most dire anathema was pronounced on those who obeyed 
the priests and gods of a foreign people. Not only would all 
their service and aid be withheld, but sickness, suffering, and 
even death might be dreaded from their magical influence. It is 
true, the cures effected by the English after the powaws had 
howled, leaped, danced, and blown upon the patients in vain, 
lowered materially the power of their savage divinities. Still, they 
did not doubt of their existence, and were scarcely undeceived 
by their new teachers, who themselves beheved that the native 
priests derived from an unhallowed source some supernatural 
powers. It w^as considered, therefore, unhandsome and un-In- 
dian to change the gods of their fathers, even for a mightier 



(I 



STATE OF RELIGION. 203 

deity. They incurred all the penalties of loss of caste ; being 
thrown out from among their countrymen and associates, their 
lives threatened, and sometimes even forfeited . The sachems, who 
possessed no small influence, considered their authority as identi- 
fied with that of the powaws, and viewed the change in worship 
and manners as a species of rebellion. The ministers too, in 
avoiding the lax modes of Romish conversion, went perhaps to 
the opposite extreme, admitting to communion those only who 
were judged fully to understand and be under the influence of 
true religion ; so that of the whole number of professing Indians, 
not one hundred enjoyed full church privileges. It being difficult 
to procure qualified preachers among the settlers, the great object 
was to form an Indian ministry, with which view Dartmouth 
college, on a small scale, was founded. The savage pupils ap- 
plied themselves at first wdth zeal and success ; indeed, Hiac- 
comes, a young native chief, had made himself eminent as a 
teacher, and procured many converts. A great proportion, how- 
.ever, soon tired, and being attracted by their friends and their 
old roving habits, betook themselves again to the woods. Even 
these limited prospects were much darkened by the long war, 
w^hich, as already observed, was to a great extent, an anti-chris- 
tian conflict ; the chiefs, and particularly Phillip, being imbued 
with the most imbittered enmity against the European religion. 
They viewed with peculiar enmity their converted countrymen, 
and eagerly strove to root out their settlements. So fatal was 
the consequence, that in 1684, the number of churches was re- 
duced to four ; yet so active was the zeal of Elliot, then upwards 
of eighty, that in three years they were as numerous as ever. 

When Massachusetts had overcome some of its greatest evils, 
and seemed approaching to a tranquil state, she was again dis- 
turbed by the belief in, and the persecution of, witches. Before 
this unhappy delusion was cleared away, nineteen persons suf- 
fered death ; eight more were under sentence ; and one hundred 
and fifty were in prison. At this period the eyes of the people 
were opened, and they saw their delusion. 



204 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 



( 



Massachusetts, from this time to the peace of 1763, enjoyed, 
like the other colonies, a course of prosperity, chequered only i 
by some internal agitations. She took a very active part in \ 
the military operations of successive wars waged against the j 
French colonies and their Indian allies. As these, however,] 
were in a great degree common to all the states, we shall re- 
serve them, with other general subjects, for a special chapter. 

Lord Bellamont, who went out as governor in 1699, was ex- 
tremely popular ; and it was to the great regret of the people, 
that after fourteen months he was transferred to New York. 
They were little pleased at his being succeeded by Dudley, a 
man of talent, and a native of the state, where he had many 
friends ; but the body of the people remembered that he had ad- 
vised the resignation of the charter, and subsequently acted as 
the first absolute ruler under the king. During the whole 
twelve years of his administration, perpetual contests on petty 
subjects weie waged between the two parties, and he rendered 
himself doubly odious by the expression of a wish that the colony 
were again utterly disfranchised. 

On the accession of the house of Hanover, the settlers hoped 
for a more decidedly whig system ; and, in fact, after some ma- 
noeuvring, they obtained for governor Colonel Shute, who was 
at first very acceptable. But they were soon amazed to learn 
that a bill had been brought in for the entire abrogation of their 
charter, and it was only by very strong remonstrances that 
ministers were induced to withdraw it. Shute, too, though of 
mild manners, became attached to the high prerogative party, 
and advanced various claims scarcely warranted by the constitu- 
tion, particularly that of negativing the choice of the speaker 
of assembly. After many dissensions, the affair was referred 
to the government at home, by whom all his pretensions were 
sanctioned, and the local authorities were obliged to consent to 
an explanatory charter, embracing the views of the governor, 
and other regulations not less offensive. Hence it was in vain, 
that he pressed for a fixed and liberal salary to himself; they 



PARTY CONTROVERSIES. 205 

gratified their resentment by diminishing it, without regard to 
the depreciation of the currency. 

In 1727, he was succeeded by Burnet, a very accomplished 
person, and who, at New York, had made himself extremely 
acceptable. Under him, however, the question of income came 
to a crisis. The assembly, much mortified by having, under the 
charter of William, been deprived of the choice of a governor, 
endeavoured to keep him still under their influence, by granting 
his salary only from year to year, and varying its amount ac- 
cording as he had given satisfaction. This arrangement was 
very disagreeable to him, and still more to the mhiistry at home, 
against whose power it w^as directly levelled. Burnet, relying 
on their support, pressed with great vehemence for the desired 
arrangement ; but it was strenuously resisted, and the contro- 
versy was suspended by his death in 1729. The cabinet then 
sent out Belcher, who had formerly acted as their agent, but 
with distinct instructions to insist on this point, which, it was 
hoped, his great popularity might gain. He does not, how^ever, 
seem to have entered on the undertaking very heartily, and 
when the assembly passed a liberal vote, he obtained permission 
to accept it. Though still ordered to press the general measure, 
he seems to have concerned himself very little about the matter, 
and thus the assembly, by dogged perseverance, finally gained 
this important object. 

In 1740, Belcher fell into unjust suspicion with the ministry, 
and was removed ; but on his innocence being ascertained, he 
was compensated some years after with the government of New 
Jersey. He was succeeded by Shirley, who espoused somewhat 
the cause of prerogative ; yet by moderation and great kindness to- 
wards the opposite party, he retained a large share of their good ' 
will. This was heightened by his zealous promotion of the mili- 
tary operations against Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, which were 
carried on chiefly from Massachusetts, and crowned with signal 
success. Pownall, who was appointed in 1757, showed some 
preference for the popular party, though without alienating their 
18 



206 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

antagonists ; and his reputation was aided by certain warlike ex- 
ploits in which he had some share. Bernard, who took his 
place in 1769, belongs to the period of revolutionary trouble. 

We shall now conclude with a rapid sketch of the other 
colonies of New England, which mostly sprung from Massachu- 
setts, but do not in their history present the same striking events. 

Connecticut was an early shoot from that settlement. Some 
knowledge of the fertile banks of the river so named, and a 
spirit of restless enterprise, soon excited a strong desire to peo- 
ple this new region, though there was still ample space in the 
original colony. This project was at first discouraged by the 
ruling authorities ; but in 1635 and 1636, two successive parties 
migrated to that quarter, accompanied by Mr. Hooker, who, 
next to Cotton, was reckoned the light of the western churches. 
They drove their cattle before them, through the thick, entan- 
gled woods, sleeping under the canopy of heaven, and suffering 
many severe hardships. These they encountered with charac- 
teristic firmness; and reaching the desired spot, founded Hart- 
ford, Springfield, and other small villages. In 1637, Eaton and 
Davenport, with some strict puritans, settled New Haven, which, 
for a considerable time, held itself independent of Connecticut, 
as well as of Massachusetts. All these arrangements had been 
made without any concert with the proprietors in England, 
Lords Brooke, and Say and Seal, who had obtained the land by- 
assignment from the original company. The colony, however, 
in 1644, succeeded in purchasing the rights of those noblemen ; 
a transaction, the legaHty of v;hich, though doubted, appears 
never to have been contested. The Dutch also, from Manhattan, 
claimed the territory, and had a fortified station at the mouth of 
the river; but the English treated their pretensions as alto- 
gether unfounded, and if they did not attack them, were pre- 
pared to resist any attempt to dislodge their own settlers. 

The colony, in its very infancy, suffered inconvenience from 
the war against the Pequod Indians, the events of which we 
have already noticed. After a severe contest, they completely 



CONNECTICUT COLONIZED. 



207 




Emigration of Hooker. 



triumphed, and earned the blessing of a long peace. Both set- 
tlements from this time continued in a state of gradual progress. 
In 1643, they were combined with Massachusetts and Plymouth, 
into " the united colonies of New England," chiefly with a view 
to defence against the Dutch, French, and Indians ; an ar- 
rangement w^hich did not interfere with the freedom of their in- 
ternal government. On the restoration of Charles II., w^hile 
Massachusetts kept somewhat aloof, Winthrop hastened to Eng- 
land with congratulations. By his own address, combined with 
the influence of Lord Say and Seal, and other noblemen, he ob- 
tained a charter of the most liberal character, constituting, indeed, 
an independent democracy. The assembly of deputies had the 
choice of their governor and assistants ; they enacted all laws, 
could establish courts of justice, levy and employ troops ; in 
short, exercise all the functions of government, with only the 



208 SETTLEMENT'OF NEW Ex\GLAND. 

vague limitation, that their laws should not be contrary to those 
of the mother country. They imagined, too, that their coasts 
extended westward as far as the Pacific. New Haven at first 
proudly refused to merge her independence, even in this privi-il 
leged state ; but the address of the younger Winthrop, and thci 
dread of the commission sent out by Charles II. to regulate thd 
colonies, soon induced her to acquiesce. That gentlemen, who 
was elected governor, showed that, to great talents as a man oli 
the world and a scholar, he united pure patriotism, devoting] 
himself entirely to the welfare of the colony. The intolerance 
which produced so great evils in Massachusetts, seems never U^ 
have prevailed here. In 1680, the train-bands, composed of thd 
males from sixteen to sixty, amounted to 2500, inferring a popu^i 
lation of at least 10,000. These were divided among twentyy 
six towns, which could soon boast of twenty-one churchess 
There were only about thirty slaves ; paupers were few ; neither 
beggars nor vagabonds were permitted. The trade, chiefly wutH 
Boston and New York, w^as carried on by twenty petty merchants 
in twenty-four small vessels ; and the imports did not exceed thel 
value of £9000. The property of the w^hole corporation waa 
reckoned at about £110,000. 

On the accession of James II., Connecticut sent an address 
of congratulation, which was well received ; but that arbitrary; 
prince, who had determined to cancel all the American char-r 
ters, was not likely to spare one so foreign to his taste anoi 
views. Three successive writs of quo warranto were issued 
and the colonists, after craving successive delays, and seeing} 
that the blow could not be warded off, determined to yield! 
Colonel Treat, the governor, wrote to the secretary of state 
making the strongest professions of loyalty, yet with a wish tc 
continue as they were, if consistent with his majesty's princel} 
wisdom ; but, if otherwise, submitting to his royal commands 
and only requesting to be joined to the united colonies under 
Andros, rather than to any other. Randolph, the relentless 
enemy of American liberty, urged that this was not enough. 



THE CHARTER CANCELLED. 



209 




Roger Williams entertained by the Indians. 



land that nothing less than the entire forfeiture of the charter 
could finally crush their pretensions. James, however, sincerely- 
gratified by the courteous submission of the people, sent orders 
to Andros to accept it. Assuming the administration, he at the 
'same time demanded the deed ; but it was carefully concealed 
in the hollow of an aged elm, which still stands, the object of 
[public veneration. On the accession of William, the charter, 
[having neither been resigned nor any judicial decision obtained 
[against it, was not considered by legal authorities as forfeited ; 
and that monarch was not prepared to incur the odium of press- 
ing the matter to a conclusion. Thus Connecticut, by timely 
yielding, retained entire those franchises of which Massachu- 
setts lost a part by her unbending firmness. 

Rhode Island. — We have had occasion, in the annals of 
'Massachusetts, to notice the foundation of this httle state by 
i Roger Williams. After fleeing from Salem, and encountering 
18* 



210 SETTLEMENT'OF NEW ENGLAND. " 

many hardships, he reached a fertile spot at the head of a wind- 
ing bay, which he named Providence. His friendship with the 
Indians, whose cause he had always espoused, enabled him i 
without difficulty to procure for himself and a few followers of ' 
his adverse fortune a small territory. Here he proclaimed his i 
laudable principle of general toleration ; and, receiving with i 
kindness all who sought refuge in his domain, made it the chief 
resort of the partisans of the movement. Its numerous vota-- 
ries, thrown out by the rigid orthodoxy of Massachusetts, , 
found here a hearty welcome. A certain motley character,, 
especially in regard to creed and worship, was the necessary, 
consequence. Yet, even in periods of the most rapid innova- • 
tion, there appears a tendency to unity, caused by the newer* 
and bolder sects absorbing those which preceded, and whose J 
tenets had lost the gloss of novelty. The first great accession ii 
was from Mrs. Hutchinson's party; and though their views? 
seem to have had little resemblance to his, the two were quickly ^ 
amalgamated. These refugees, possessing considerable pro-- 
perty, made a large purchase from the Indians, which, combined 1 
with Providence, composed the state of Rhode Island. The Bap- - 
tist movement next followed, which Mrs. Hutchinson and her 
sister so zealously embraced that they prevailed upon Williams ^ 
himself, at an advanced age, to submit anew to the sacred rite. . 
Even he, however, was struck with horror at the wild effusions 
of Gorton, and at seeing them propagated in his settlement with 
the usual success. Actuated by his characteristic mildness, 
how^ever, he merely effected an arrangement by which that per- 
sonage, with his fervid adherents, went out and formed another 
establishment. This was soon followed by the Quaker excite- 
ment, which, in its greatest violence, he had sound judgments 
enough to repress ; but as he allowed to its adherents a refuge ' 
denied everywhere else, Rhode Island soon became the point t 
whence they issued forth to the neighbouring states, and uponi 
which they returned. They experienced also the usual success s 
of daring innovators, and, notwithstanding all his efforts, soon i 



RHODE ISLAND. 211 

became the ruling sect. Mrs. Hutchinson was dead ; but her 
dster, Catherine Scott, and her intimate friend, Mrs. Dyar, 
•anked high among the gifted prophetesses. 

From these causes, the colony silently grew, and in 1680 was 
eported to contain five hundred planters and five hundred other 
nen, whence, as these last were apparently adults, we may in- 
er an entire population of about four thousand. Newport was 
;he harbour ; but as yet there was very little either of com- 
nerce or of shipping. The religious sects were of course nume- 
rous, especially the Baptists and Quakers. The settlement, 
tiowever, had all along been viewed with an evil eye by the 
3eople of Massachusetts, who saw in it the chief pivct on 
rt^hich turned that enthusiastic movement by which they were 
50 much annoyed. Its exclusion from the union of the colo- 
nies in 1643, marked strongly this spirit, and placed it in a 
somewhat precarious situation. Williams, however, who, in 
1644, came to Britain, where the independents were then in full 
power, and his friend Vane, one of their chief leaders, easily 
obtained a popular charter for the towns of Providence, New- 
port, and Portsmouth, with a recommendation equivalent to an 
order, that New England should exchange good offices with 
him. On his return he was received with a species of triumph ; 
and his still jealous neighbours were obliged to content them- 
iselves with shutting their state against him and his people. 
Again, after the Restoration, John Clarke, the agent of the 
colony, procured from Charles II. a fresh charter, securing all 
itheir privileges, and particularly confirming the right of religious 
freedom. That prince, however, in the end of his reign, and 
his successor, in a manner still more determined, applied them- 
|selves to cancel all the colonial charters. In July, 16So, ac- 
cordingly, a quo ivarrarito w^as issued against that of Rhode 
Island, which, being announced to the assembly, they sent a 
very humble reply, declaring their intention not to stand suit 
with his majesty, but earnestly soliciting a continuance of their 
[privileges, especially in regard to their faith. James accepted 



212 SETTLExMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 



I 



their submission, and, by his instructions, Andros, in DecembeiSi 
1636, dissolved the government, broke its seal, and assumed th<ij 
entire administration. But after the Revolution, the peopldi 
laid hold '* of their former gracious privileges," and shared in: 
this respect the good fortune of Connecticut. They werei 
allowed to resume their charter, which had never been legalljl 
forfeited. 

New Hampshire and Maine. — The extensive region be^i 
tween Massachusetts and the country claimed by France undeE 
the name of Acadia, having early drawn the notice of Englisfcl 
adventurers, the two most active members of the PlymoutUi 
Company, Sir Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason, undertook 
to colonize it. The latter, secretary to the council, obtainedii 
in 1621, a grant of the lands between Salem and the Merri-i 
mack ; and next year, in conjunction with Gorges, of those he'^j, 
tween the last-mentioned river and the Kennebeck, as far m 
the St. Lawrence. In 1620, and again in 1635, when the com-i 
pany was broken up. Mason acquired fresh patents for hijii 
portion, which then received the name of New Hampshiref 
In 1638, however, before the settlement had come to any ma-v 
turity, he died, and his family w^re unable to derive any bene-ej 
fit from this vast donation. Sir Ferdinand, meantime, at thei 
crisis of 1635, procured for himself exclusively the whole terri-i 
tory from New Hampshire to the Kennebeck, and this w^as con- 
firmed in 1639, by a patent from the king, when it received the 
name of Maine*. 

These proprietors appear to have set great value on their 
grants, and to have made active exertions to improve them. 
Dover and Portsmouth were early founded on the Piscataqua ; 
and in 1635, Gorges sent out his nephew to govern the district. . 
Yet their settlements made very slow progress. Being high- 
church and monarchy men, they granted none of those franchises 
by which alone emigrants could be attracted to this northerni| 
soil ; while, to the aristocratic class, Virginia offered a muchh 
more tempting resort. Only a few hardy adventurers were en-K 



EARLY HISTORY OF MAINE. 213 

■;iced by the abundant supply of fish and timber, who gradually 
ibrmed along the coast small stations, adding the practice of a 
dight agriculture for the supply of immediate wants. 

I Massachusetts, however, began to overflow into these terri- 
ories. In 1637, Wheelwright, the antinomian preacher, founded 
i)n the Piscataqua the town of Exeter, without paying much re- 
gard to the proprietor's rights, though he was ultimately obliged 
!'0 submit to his officer, Williams. Three years afterwards, 
i^Iassachusetts advanced claims to New Hampshire, as being 
Ivithin her patent ; and, although her pretensions were far from 
J'aUd, her strength and the inclination of the people enabled her 
ivithout difficulty to make them good. This new member was 
hcorporated and endowed with all her poHtical privileges. 
Jeveral zealous ministers were sent, who are said to have greatly 
improved the people ; but they had the discretion not to enforce 
Iny exclusive system, and during nearly forty years of this rule. 
She foundations of solid prosperity were laid. The feeling spread 
imong the small seaports which began to stud the coast of 
t^aine, and they were successively, either at their own request, 
[r by the consent of large majorities, incorporated with the 
jthers. The proprietors loudly, and with good show of reason, 
emonstrated against these proceedings, but without obtaining 
ny redress. The independents, now in power, were adverse to 
hem, and friendly to Massachusetts ; while the people, included 
dthin the political system of the latter state, earnestly petitioned 
3r its continuance. 

A complete reverse took place at the restoration of Charles II., 

II whose partiahties were in favour of the old royalist proprie- 
OYS, and against the puritan colony. Gorges and Mason, 
Irandsons of the original patentees, immediately applied for 
estitution of their rights, which was granted, and the commis- 
ioners then sent out were instructed to enforce it. Yet the 
;;eneral court, by their local power, the affections of the inhabi- 
ants, and by constantly evading the demand for deputies duly 
«ipowered, contrived during sixteen years to retain the juris- 



214 SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

diction ; but being, in 1677, brought before the chief justices 
of England, their pretensions were at once set aside. Mason was 
also obliged to yield his authority, though retaining a claim upor 
the lands. Maine was assigned to Gorges ; but the rulers of 
Massachusetts contrived to purchase his rights for £1250, a sum 
perhaps, above its actual value at the moment. They incurrec 
reproach by treating it as a subject territory, appointing the go- 
vernor and council, though they graciously allowed a popula; 
legislature. ] 

New Hampshire being thus thrown loose, it was determined 
to manage it as a royal province ; and in 1682, Edward Cranfl 
field was sent as administrator. His government was one confl 
tinned scene of discontent on the part of the people, amounting! 
sometimes to rebellion. Mr. Bancroft represents him as avow^ 
edly making it his sole object to amass money. It appears morffi 
certain that all his maxims were those of high prerogatives 
while Massachusetts had breathed among the people the puritaui 
and republican spirit in its full force. He wrote " that whiW 
the clergy were allowed to preach, no true allegiance would boi 
found in those parts.'' In 1685, he solicited his recall, declaring| 
he should " esteem it the greatest happiness in the world to bo| 
allowed to remove from those unreasonable people." Present!}!;' 
after, this country, with the whole of New England, was united 
under the successive governments of Dudley and Andros. A 
the Revolution, it again became a separate and royal colony} 
though with some dependence on Massachusetts. 




William Fenn. 



CHAPTER VII. 

SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

N the history of New England we find exhi- 
bited the extravagance indulged in by the 
Quakers. Carrying to an undue length that 
religious movement which produced the Re- 
formation, they relinquished a proper regard 
not only to forms and ordinances, but to 
reason, and, in some degree, to Scripture, yielding themselves 
in a great measure to the guidance of visions and inward 
illuminations. They constituted at this period, as already ob- 
served, the extreme of the ultra-protestant section, which thence- 
forth began to recede from its too forward position. Not only 
did no similar sects spring up, but they themselves gradually 

(215) 




216 SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

pruned away the exaggerated features of their system. They 
assumed even a remarkably sedate character, and, retaining still ! 
their deep devotional feeling, with only a few outward peculiari- | 
ties, distinguished themselves in the walks of life by practical | 
philanthropy. In this chastened and reformed Quakerism, the i 
lead was taken by William Penn, one of the most illustrious \ 
characters of modern times. Born to rank and distinction, son 
to an admiral who had attained celebrity under Cromwell by 
the conquest of Jamaica, he embraced at college this persecuted 
cause, and devoted himself to it throughout his whole life. 
Refusing to retract or compromise his views, he was expelled 
from his father's house, becoming amenable to all the rigours 
then enforced against eccentric modes of religious worship and ; 
teaching. He indulged at first in certain extravagances; but. 
ripening years, combined with extensive study, and travel over 
a great part of Europe, enlarged his mind ; and, while retaining j 
the same devoted attachment to what was valuable in his sys- j 
tem, he purified it from its principal errors. His steady course , 
of Christian kindness gained for him the general esteem of the 
public, and ultimately led to a reconciliation with his parent, 
who bequeathed to him the whole of his property. 

Among the tenets of this school, which Penn at all times ad- 
vocated with the utmost zeal, was that of complete liberty in re- 
ligious opinion and worship. It became, indeed, a leading object 
of his life to render himself a shield not only to his own people, 
but to all who on this ground were exposed to suffering and per- 
secution. Unable as yet fully to accomplish his end in the old 
world, he conceived the plan of providing for them, in the new 
continent, an asylum similar to that of their pilgrim ancestors. 
By founding there a state open to the votaries of every faith, he 
might, he hoped, fulfil this benevolent purpose, and at the same 
time secure for himself a degree of importance and wealth. He 
possessed, in virtue of his father's services, a claim on govern- j 
ment, estimated at £16,000 ; but after a long delay, amid the 
exigencies of the court, he could not without difficulty have 

i! 



PENN OBTAINS A CHARTER. 217 

'endered it effective in any shape, except for one favourable cir- 
umstance. He enjoyed the favour both of Charles II. and 
ames II., and was always a welcome guest at Whitehall. This 
itercourse with princes whose character was so unlike his own, 
xcited in that age a feeling of surprise which we can scarcely 
void sharing. The most injurious surmises arose, — he was 
^presented as a Papist, and even a Jesuit. He seems, however, 
) have clearly proved, that he never concurred in any of the 
legal measures of those rulers, but employed his influence almost 
)lely with the view of obtaining protection for those numerous 
ifferers in w^hom he took so deep an interest. Had his object 
een money, he must have encountered many obstacles in obtain- 
ig it from the dilapidated treasury of Charles. It was much 
isier to get the royal assent respecting a desert region beyond 
le Atlantic, whence no immediate benefit was derived. His 
etition, being presented in June, 1680, was referred to the agents 
f the Duke of York and Lord Baltimore, who declared it to be 
riobjectionable, provided the rights of these individuals were pre- 
'ved inviolate. Penn, therefore, submitted the draft of a 
larter, which, after being revised by Chief Justice North and 
le Bishop of London, was passed under the seal-royal. It 
ranted to him the tract in America extending northwards from 
le 40th to the 43d degree of latitude, and five degrees of lon- 
itude westward, from a boundary line drawn twelve miles from 
i'ewcastle on the Delaware. Nearly the same privileges were 
i)nceded as were formerly granted to Lord Baltimore. The 
roprietor was impowered to dispose of the lands in fee-simple, 
ji» levy taxes with consent of the freemen or their delegates, to 
^'•ect courts of justice, and (what one might scarcely have ex- 
i^cted) to raise forces for the defence of the province by sea and 
nd. There was reserved, however, the sovereignty of the 
iown, and its claim to allegiance ; also an appeal from the courts 
:» the king in council, and the right of Parliament to levy cus- 
>m-duties. The acts passed by the Assembly and the owner 
ere to be transmitted within five years to his majesty, and if 
19 



219 SETTLEMENT^ OF PENNSYLVANIA. ' 

considered unconstitutional, might be disallowed. The Bish 
of London stipulated for the reception of a preacher, as soon 
one should be requested by twenty of the settlers. 

Invested with these ample powers, Penn proceeded to give 
the colony a constitution, on a very hberal footing. A council! 
of seventy-two, elected by the body of the people, and having a 
third of their number renewed every year, carried on the execu-i, 
tive government, in conjunction with the proprietor, who wasi; 
allowed three votes. This body was divided into four com- 
mittees, of plantation, trade, justice, and education. They pre- 
pared the bills and propositions which were submitted to the 
General Assembly, also elected by the people. They were tc 
sit nine days only, during eight of which they were to consider 
the proposals made by the council, and on the ninth to pronounce 
their decision. This system, said to have been copied chiefl) 
from the Oceana of Harrington, was not very well fitted fori 
practical purposes, and had not a long duration. 

Penn now circulated widely his proposals through Britain; 
France, and Germany ; the oppressed and impoverished of ever) 
class being invited to this land of promise. He recommendec 
it not only to those who suffered under religious persecution 
but " to industrious labourers and handicraftsmen — ingenious 
spirits low in the world — younger brothers of small inheritances 
instead of hanging on as retainers on their elder brother's tabic 
and charity — lastly, to men of an universal spirit, who have ar 
eye to the good of posterity." The necessary expense of con 
veyance was stated to be, — for an adult 5/., a child undei 
twelve 21, 10s., goods 21. per ton. Those who could not af 
ford even this moderate amount, were informed that, on engag- ^ 
ing w^th emigrants of property for a service of four years, no 
only would their passage be defrayed, but at the end of the tern 
they would receive fifty acres, at 2s. quit-rent. An extent of | 
five thousand acres was sold for 100/., with 50^. quit-rent, comr'| 
mencing only in 1684. Those who preferred might pay merelj 
a quit-rent of Id. an acre, or 201. IQs. Sd. Smaller tract; 



ARRIVAL OF EMIGRANTS. 



219 




Treaty Monument. 



i/ere disposed of at corresponding prices. Poor men were 
llowed fifty acres at ^d. per acre. 

These advantageous terms, the troubled state of Europe, 
ad the high character of the proprietor, caused his proposal 
) be received with general favour. An influx into America 
)ok place, such as had never been equalled since the days of 
le first settlers. Between 1682 and 1685, there arrived ninety 
nil, conveying an average of eighty passengers, in all seven 
' lousand two hundred, besides one thousand who had landed in 
381. They had been sent under his kinsman Markham, to 
ke possession of the country, and prepare the way for the 
rger colony. He found no difficulty in completing the pur- 
nase of an extensive tract of land from the Indians, on terms 
:tisfactory to them, yet moderate for the buyer. 

In October, 1682, Penn arrived, with a body of two thou- 
f'nd emigrants. After some time spent in surveying his new 
])Ssessions, he, in the beginning of 1683, arranged a meeting 

ith the native chiefs, under the canopy of a spacious elm tree, 
lar the present site of Philadelphia. They appeared on the 
< y appointed, in their rude attire, and with brandished wea- 
ll 



220 SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

pons, beneath the shadow of those dense woods which covered 
what is now a fine and cultivated plain. On learning that the 
English approached, they deposited their arms and sat down in i 
groups, each tribe behind its own chieftain. Penn, then stepping ; 
forward in his usual plain dress, and unarmed, held forth in his s 
hand the parchment on which the treaty was engrossed. In a i 
simple speech, he announced to them those principles of equity f 
and amity upon which he desired that all their future intercourse f 
should be conducted. He besought them to keep this parch-- 
ment during three generations. The Indians replied, in their i 
usual solemn and figurative language, that they would live inn 
peace with him and with his children while the sun and moonr| 
should endure. A friendly display like this is by no means un-i-| 
usual in the first opening of intercourse between civilized andri 
savage nations ; but seldom, indeed, does it long continue un-i- 
broken, or fail even of being succeeded by an imbittered enmity., 
Pennsylvania afforded at least one happy exception. Her 
founder continued with this savage people on terms not only of I 
peace, but of intimate union ; he visited, them in their villa ges,s 
he slept in their wigwams ; they welcomed him almost as a 
brother. Forty years afterw^ards they said to the governor, Siri^ 
William Keith, as the highest possible comphment : — "We' 
esteem and love you as if you w^ere William Penn himself.'' 
What was still more wonderful, the colonists, though they hac 
to struggle with many uncongenial spirits in their own body 
succeeded in maintaining good terms with the natives ; and foi 
nearly a century, the Indian tomahawk w^as never lifted agains 
a people who would have considered it unlawful to return th( , 
blow. 

His next object was to found a capital for his new settlement 
He chose a site upon a neck of land between the Schuylkill an( 
Delaware, in a situation which appeared at once agreeable an( 
healthy, abounding in water, and with convenient river comma 
nications. He gave to it the name of Philadelphia, (brotherl; 
love,) under which it has become one of the most flourishing citie 

i I 



QUESTION AS TO BOUNDARY. 221 

in thfe New World. Combining the taste for neatness and regu- 
larity characteristic of his people, with a love of rural nature, he 
planned a town composed of parallel streets, each sixty feet 
broad, crossed by others also spacious, and some indicating by 
their very names. Vine, Mulberry, Chestnut, that the verdure of 
the country was still to enliven them. The purchasers of 
five thousand acres were to have a house in one of the two 
principal streets, with a garden and orchard ; those of one 
thousand in the three next ; such as were under one thousand 
acres, in the cross streets. In 1684, fifty villages, arranged in 
regular squares, had sprung up, on a similar plan, though on a 
smaller scale. 

In December, 1682, Penn proceeded to Maryland, to adjust 
with Lord Baltimore the boundaries of their respective provinces. 
His lordship received him as he had before received his agent 
Markham, with the utmost politeness ; yet the arrangement was 
found very difficult and vexatious. The specified limit of the 40th 
iegree had, in the maps of that age, been made to run across the 
Bay of Chesapeake, about the latitude of Pool's Island. Thus the 
lead of that great inlet was left within the bounds assigned to 
Pennsylvania, and afforded an advantageous outlet for her com- 
'nerce. Lord Baltimore, how^ever, caused a new and more 
scientific survey to be made, showing that this limit really lay 
considerably to the north of any part of the bay, from which the 
lew province was thus wholly excluded. This circumstance bore 
leavily upon the philanthropist, whose colony was thus deprived 
)f all direct maritime trade. He earnestly urged, that the space 
n question was a hundred times more valuable to him than to 
he other party, of whose territory this was only an outer tract, 
carcely at all known or settled ; that the proprietor of Mary- 
iand must probably have gained by the error in setthng his own 
1 (oundaries with Virginia ; and that the understanding upon 
yhich the grant had been made ought to be taken into considera- 
4on. Their interests came into collision on another point. Penn 

iAd obtained a grant from the Duke of York of the whole coast 
I X9# 



222 



SETTLEMENT -OF PENNSYLVANIA. 




Penn'3 Interview with Lord Baltimore. 



of the river and bay of Delaware, southward from Newcastle to ) 
Cape Henlopen, which would in some degree have supplied his > 
want of a seacoast. But the other party claimed all the shores 
of this bay also, as included within the 40th degree. Both par- 
ties, during their personal intercourse, maintained their claims 
with extreme pertinacity, yet with politeness ; but the correspond- 
ence which afterwards ensued is tinctured with considerable 
bitterness, each accusing; the other of forwardino; his views in an 
unfair manner. It became necessary to refer the question to the 
Committee of Plantation, who, in November, 1685, came to the 
decision that the 40th degree, in its real direction, must be the 
boundary, thus excluding the Quakers from the Chesapeake. • 
But while they allowed that the Maryland patent had extended 
indeed to the Delaware, they considered that it had been granted 



INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. 223 

)n]y in respect to such countries as were not occupied by any 
ZJhristian people, while that region had been already colonized 
in considerable numbers by the Dutch and Swedes. Hence it 
i^'as determined that the eastern part belonged of right to the 
;rown, including Penn's domain, which was thereby rendered 
/alid, and gave him the command of that fine estuary, thus in a 
;reat measure compensating his loss on another side. 
: In 1684, Penn was induced by this and other affairs to return 
England, leaving the administration in the hands of com- 
oissioners ; a body who did not by any means work harmoni- 
(usly. Moore, a leading proprietary officer, was accused by 
he Assembly of corruption and other high misdemeanors ; which 
;harge being strenuously resisted by the executive, a violent 
;ollision ensued. The proprietor, while he felt disposed to grant 
|: liberal government to his settlers, was probably little prepared 

make over to them the whole political power, which yet 
hey seem to have been determined to grasp. In 1686, he sent 
nstructions to his officers to dissolve the constitution, which he 
lad so studiously constructed. The Assembly, however, for- 
eeing that the change was proposed with a view to the abridg- 
oent of their privileges, resolutely opposed his views. He then 
letermined to supersede the commission, and appoint a deputy- 
jovernor, as more likely to support his authority. 

1 The person selected was Blackwell, who is admitted to have 
•)een no Quaker, and indeed to have had nothing akin to the 
character. The apology made seems singular, namely, that no 
>ne of that profession could be found fit for the office, and wiUing 
so undertake it. We may rather suspect that, being a dexterous 
Dolitician and high advocate for power, he was expected to beat 
ilown the democratic opposition. His effi[)rts for this purpose 
!vere carried to an extreme. White, who, as former s-peaker, 
,iad been active in the prosecution of Moore, having been re- 
elected as delegate, was thrown into prison, and his claim under 
!he habeas corpus act evaded. The most imbittered messages, 
bassed between the governor and Assembly. He contrived, how- 



224 SETTLEMENT* OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

ever, to gain over a part of the members, and thus to carry om 
the government. 

On these proceedings being represented to him, Penn was not 
disposed to support them ; and he now threw^ almost everything^ 
into the hands of the council, on whom he conferred the power 
of choosing the executive officers and deputy-governor ; they) 
elected Thomas Lloyd, a Quaker preacher of great merit. But 
neither did this arrangement work well. Schisms arose among^ 
the too numerous body ; and violent protests were made. Thei 
chief conflicts, w^hich were between the old territory of Penn^■ 
sylvania and the new counties on the Delaware, rose to such ai 
height, that the proprietor was obliged reluctantly to separatet 
the two territories ; appointing Markham governor of the latter/ 
which ultimately formed a small state, bearing the name of that 
great bay. Peace did not reign among the Quakers themselves^ 
George Keith, one of the most eminent among them as a preacher 
and writer, disappointed perhaps at not himself obtaining a leadt 
in the government, proclaimed that no one of his sect could law-/ 
fully act as an executive officer or magistrate, and if he did, had( 
no claim to any obedience. These doctrines, enforced not in thei 
mildest terms, brought him under the cognizance of the authori-i 
ties. His adherents allege that their proceedings were violent 
and irregular ; that without hearing or inquiry he was pro-) 
claimed in the market-place a seditious person, and an enemy tO( 
the king and queen ; and that the ministers, with as little cere- 
mony, denounced him as not having the fear of God before his. 
eyes. The actual penalty was only a moderate fine, and notj 
even enforced ; but the finding himself proscribed among hisi] 
brethren, both in the colony and at home, seems to have exas-' 
perated him ; — he became an enemy to the Quakers, abandoned^ 
their communion, and finally accepted an episcopal benefice. He 
was lamented by them as a mighty man fallen from the highli 
places of Israel ; and the noise made by these feuds seriously in-ii 
jured the colony in the crisis which now arose. 

The Pennsylvanians, who had owed everything to James II., 



TRIAL OF PENN. 225 

did not share the general joy at his abdication in 1688. The 
news was unwillingly believed ; and the government, till Sep- 
tember, 1689, was still administered in his name. This was 
carefully reported from New York ; while in England, charges 
were brought against the proprietor as adhering to popery, or at 
least strongly attached to the exiled house. William, after some 
hesitation, deprived him of his patent ; and in April, 1693, Ben- 
jamin Fletcher, governor of New York, assumed authority also 
over Pennsylvania. The Assembly professed their willingness to 
obey, provided they were ruled in the usual manner, and by laws 
founded on letters-patent. But he intimated that they were 
much mistaken ; that the change had been made on account of 
neglects and miscarriages ; and that his majesty's mode of go- 
verning w^ould be in direct opposition to that of Mr. Penn. It 
;was even maintained that all the former laws had been abrogated, 
[though a wiUingness was expressed to re-enact the greater 
number. The Assembly, however, insisted on their validity ; 
and, while acknowledging the authority of the king, denied the 
charge of former misgovernment. They resisted also the de- 
inands for money ; and thus a perpetual strife reigned between 
them and the governor, who declared that nothing would remedy 
the evil but annexation to New York ; and complained that, 
though his door was never shut, it was avoided, as if it had been 
itreason to be seen in his company. 

Penn, meantime, passed through many trials ; and after being 
repeatedly acquitted, was arraigned on fresh charges. However, 
he was strongly supported by Locke, Rochester, and other 
friends ; and as nothing could be proved against him except a 
personal attachment to King James, without sharing his bigotry, 
IWilHam, in August, 1694, passed the patent for his restoration. 
As he could not go out in person, Markham was again appointed 
deputy. But the Assembly, though pleased to be rid of the 
royal government, did not show any greater deference to that of 
the proprietary. They had wrested the privilege of originating 
bills, and availed themselves of it so far as to draw almost the 

li 



226 SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



I 



whole power into their hands. Markham, on convening them i 
in 1697, said : — " You are met, not by virtue of any writ of mine, , 
but of a law made by yourselves." 

In 1699, Penn again visited the colony. His object seems to » 
have been to obtain the consent of the people to a constitution i 
which, granting them every reasonable franchise, might preserve i' 
to himself the ordinary powers of an executive head. After 
much difficulty and opposition, he had the address to carry his i; 
point. The original frame was surrendered, and a new one 
formed, based on the more common and approved principles of 
representative government. The Assembly, as elsewhere, was to 
have the power of originating bills ; but these were to require 
the assent of the proprietary. He obtained also the important 
privilege of naming the council, and had thus to contend with 
only one popular body instea^ of two. 

He had gone out with the avowed intention of spending the 
rest of his life in Pennsylvania ; but he was recalled by a pro- 
ject for abolishing all the proprietary governments, for which 
purpose a new bill had been introduced into Parliament. He 
was mortified to find this measure supported by a considerable 
body of his own colonists. His liberal arrangements and invita- 
tions had attracted many whose dispositions were wholly alien 
to him and his sect, and who indignantly submitted to their 
authority. They complained that, amid the professed religious || 
equality, all government and power were "engrossed and con- J 
fined to the Quakers, and all others his majesty's good subjects 
excluded and denied the benefit of the king's laws and the rights 
of subjects." Under this strange rule no provision was made 
for defence against enemies either at home or abroad. The^ 
crown, they insisted, ought to have the powder of levying men 1 
and money, of caUing Assembhes, and of life and death, leaving I 
to Penn only his manorial rights. ' 

• Penn, how^ever, on reaching England, was gratified to find 
that the dreaded project had been renounced, and the bill with- 
drawn. He acquired considerable favour with Queen Anne; 



DISCONTENTS IN THE COLONY. 227 

but circumstances prevented his return. Hamilton, appointed 
his deputy, was still troubled by internal dissensions. These 
were not abated by the nomination, in 1703, of Evans, in 
whom we see a character the most opposite to that of the pro- 
prietor himself. This officer, young, lively, fond of frolic and 
revelry, and inflamed with military ardour, was utterly opposed 
to the Quaker assembly, and treated wuth derision their pacific 
dispositions. He began to erect forts without their permission, 
and endeavoured, but in vain, to rouse them by a false alarm of 
a French invasion. On having three of their bills presented to 
him, he told them " they were very great absurdities." They 
sent home loud remonstrances, complaining also that under the 
new frame their liberties were greatly abridged. Penn listened 
unwillingly, and it w^as.not till 1709, that this unsuitable ruler 
was removed. He was succeeded by Gookin, an Irish gentle- 
man, of good age and mild manners ; yet the discontents still 
continued. The w^ar with Canada having broken out, he had 
the ungracious task of demanding a supply of 4000/. and one 
hundred and fifty men. It was privately intimated that the 
money would suffice ; but the assembly declared that they could 
not in conscience either fight or hire others to do so ; however, 
they offered the queen a present of 500/. The chief objection 
made was to the amount ; but on this point, pleading poverty, 
they stood firm. An equal sum was afterwards, in a similar 
manner, extracted from them. 

In 1710, Penn, having reached the age of sixty-six, sent out 
a solemn remonstrance on the fueds and discontent in which the 
settlers had so long indulged. Amid the satisfaction of seeing 
the colony free and flourishing, their disputes had been to him 
a source of grief, trouble, and poverty. Recapitulating the 
whole train of his proceedings, he appealed to them whether he 
had given any real cause for this conduct ; he lamented the un- 
happiness they were bringing on themselves, as well as the 
scandal they were causing in the eyes of Europe, by such inces- 
sant contention. This appeal was not unsuccessful ; and in the 



228 SETTLEMENT t)F PENNSYLVANIA. 

next year an assembly much more friendly to him was electedJ 
It is doubtful, however, if this news ever reached him. 0{hJ 
pressed with embarrassment and losses incurred seemingly with-c 
out blame, he had entered into a treaty with government for 
transfering his territorial rights, and had agreed to accept fop 
them 12,000/. A series of apoplectic shocks, however, en^ 
tirely deprived him of his faculties, and disabled him fromi 
completing the bargain, so that the property remained in hisi 
family. 

The favour restored to Penn was not extended to Gookin^ 
whom the assembly accused of arbitrary measures, and off 
favouring the non-quaker part of the population. In 1716, hee 
was succeeded by Sir William Keith, who, during the illness ohi 
the founder, was named by the king. This governor enjoyed aa 
much greater degree of favour than any of his predecessors,! 
though he is accused of purchasing it by too entire an ac-> 
quiescence in the demands of the assembly, and allowing almostt 
the whole power to pass into their hands. Such, at least, wass 
the opinion of the proprietaries, who considered him also ass 
neglecting their interest, and at the end of nine years removedd 
him. He then attempted to raise a factious opposition, but wass 
obHged to leave the colony. After a peaceable administration off 
several years by Major Gordon, Thomas and afterwards Johnn 
Penn, sons of the late owner, w^ent out in 1732 and 1734. 
They were received with the most cordial welcome, though thee 
former did not altogether preserve his popularity. 

During the early part of the eighteenth century, the char-- 
acter of the population underwent a gradual change. Fromn 
the first a large proportion had been drawn from Germany, andi 
Pennsylvania became the favourite resort of those who, byi 
poverty and persecution, were driven from that country. M 
considerable number, who felt uneasy in the neighbouring states, , 
joined their countrymen. The prevailing sect among this peo-- 
pie was the branch of the Anabaptists called Mennonites, who, , 
to a great extent, harmonized with the Quakers, both in their 



POPULATION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 229 

:, character and religious views. In 1755, a writer estimates that 
. of the entire population of two hundred and twenty thousand, 
, nearly a half were Germans, and two-fifths of the remainder 
< disciples of Barclay. The threatening attitude which the French 
i and their Indian allies had now assumed along the back settle- 
i merits, gave so much force to this complaint, that, in 1755, an 
I'act was extorted from the members for embodying and training 
i a regiment of provincial militia. The Quakers thenceforth 
I withdrew in a great measure from public affairs, and resigned 
. that power which they had held upwards of seventy years. 
j They had not exercised it with all the moderation which would 
[ have been desirable and suitable to their profession ; yet during 
I this long period, they had maintained profound peace with the 
1 Indians, against whom other states had waged the most bitter 
, hostilities. Amid the reiterated complaints, too, of the want 
\ of provision for state defence, the fact was, that no enemy had 
I ever molested its borders. They soon after distinguished them- 
i selves by the noble measure of generally emancipating their 
; negro slaves, who had insensibly increased to a considerable 
I number. 




20 




CHAPTER VIII. 

SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSE'V. 

HILE the early history of many of the 
colonies, which have not arisen to greatT 
importance since, is marked with cir-* 
cumstances of deep interest, that of 
New York, which has attained to the 
first eminence among the states, is com- 
paratively common place in its details. 

About the year 1600, the attention of the English and Dutch 
had been directed to the discovery of a northern passage to In- 
dia, wdiich they hoped might at once be shorter, and enable 
them to escape the still formidable hostility of Spain. After 
this object had been vainly pursued by Frobisher, Davis, 
Barentz, and other navigators, it was resumed by Henry Hud- 
son. In 1609, while in the service of the Dutch West India 
Company, he discovered the river Hudson, and sailed up it as 
far as the town, which now bears his name. 

He transmitted to the Dutch Company a flattering report of 
the country which he had discovered, strongly recommending a 
settlement. 

The Dutch, in virtue of this discovery, claimed the country, 
and in 1610, a few individuals fitted out a vessel for trafiBc. 
Several stations were formed on the island of Manhattan (the 
name then given to New York,) but no attempt w^as made to 
colonize. In 1613, they were visited by Argall, the adven- 
turous English captain, who compelled them to own the do- 
minion of his country ; but as no steps were taken to follow up 
this advantage, they continued, as before, to trade with the 
natives, and consider the land their own. In 1614, a grant of 
exclusive commerce was made to a company of merchants, who 
thereupon erected a rude fort, and pushed their operations as 

(230) 



NEW AMSTERDAM. 231 

high as Albany. They appear at the same time to have formed 
a station at the mouth of the Connecticut. 

In 1620, American settlement was attempted on a grander 
scale, by the formation of the Dutch West India Company, in- 
corporated for twenty-four years. Their privileges included the 
whole western coast of Africa, as far as the Cape, with all the 
eastern shores of America, from Newfoundland to the Straits 
of Magellan. Over this vast extent they had the exclusive 
right to conclude treaties, carry on war, and exercise all the 
functions of government. No notice was taken in the grant, 
that the whole of this territory was claimed, and many parts 
occupied, by other European nations ; nor did the government, 
in making this vast donation of what was not their own, pro- 
mise the means of placing it in the company's hands. Their 
possessions, accordingly, were fiercely disputed, and most pre- 
cariously held. The weakness of the Portuguese crown en- 
abled them to grasp large portions of its territory in Brazil and 
on the African coast. In North America, they did not venture 
to measure their strength with the English, but were content 
silently to enlarge their stations on the Hudson, which the lat- 
ter showed no disposition to occupy. The country was called 
New Netherlands ; and an increasing cluster of cottages, where 
New York now stands, was named New Amsterdam. 

As yet there was nothing that could be denominated a colony; 
but in 1629, government interposed to establish one on a con- 
siderable scale. It was planned on quite an aristocratic basis ; 
for^ though lands were granted to detached settlers, the chief 
dependence was on opulent individuals, who w^re expected 
to carry out bodies of tenants at their own expense; and 
those who should transport fifty became lords of manors, hold- 
ing the absolute property of the lands thus colonized. They 
might even possess tracts sixteen miles long, and be furnished 
with negroes, if they could profitably do so. Several of them 
began to found these manors ; two, Godyn and De Vries, led 
out thirty settlers to the head of Delaware Bay, laying the 



232 SETTLEMENJ OF NEW YORK. 

first foundation of that state ; but the latter having visited home, 
found on his return that it had been attacked by the Indianss 
and totally destroyed. The whole colony was unprosperous, ^ 
and very hard pressed on different sides. The New England- 
settlement in Connecticut soon surrounded their little station, 
obliged them to give way, and even to abandon part of Longj 
Island. At the same time, the Swedes, then in the height of 
their power under Gustavus Adolphus, planned a settlement, 
which was zealously supported by that great monarch, who 
subscribed 400,000 dollars in its favour. They fixed on thee 
Bay of Delaware ; and though Kieft, the governor sent fromo 
Holland, entered a protest, he did not venture to employ forcet 
against the conqueror of Lutzen. Moreover, Lord Baltimore, 
having just obtained his patent extending northward to thee 
latitude of 40°, intimated his claim to nearly the whole of thee 
Dutch territory. All these annoyances, however, were small! 
compared to the Indian war, in which the atrocious violence off 
Kieft involved the colony. Attacking by surprise a party whoc 
had shown some hostile dispositions, he commenced a general! 
massacre, in which nearly a hundred perished. Hence ragedJ 
during two years a contest, accompanied by the usual horrorss 
and calamities, and which effectually checked the progress off 
New Netherlands. At length a treaty was negotiated, in whichli 
the five nations were included. 

A few years after, in 1646, the governor was recalled, to the( 
great satisfaction of the people, and was succeeded by Stuyve- 
sant, a military officer of distinction, brave, honest, and witlil; 
some tincture of letters. Adopting a wise and humane policyy 
towards the Indians, he succeeded in obviating any disturbance! 
from that quarter. By negotiation with the company, he ob- 
tained a release from those trammels by which commerce had 
hitherto been fettered, substituting moderate duties on exports': 
and imports. He suffered, however, much trouble from thee 
English, who were continually extending their frontier on and 
beyond the Connecticut, and set scarcely any Hmit to their 



SWEDISH COLONY. 



33S 




Governor Stuyvesant. 



claims. The settlers discouraged greatly any idea of going to 
war with so powerful a neighbour, and exhorted him to gain 
the best terms he could by treaty. By large concessions he 
obtained a provisional compact, which was never indeed ratified 
in Britain, yet obtained for his people some security. Stuyve- 
sant then turned his eyes on the other side to the Swedish 
colony, which had prospered and become a commercial rival. 
It w^as much inferior, however, to New Netherlands, while the 
death of Gustavus and of his great ministers and generals, suc- 
ceeded by the fantastic sway of Christina, rendered her country 
no longer formidable. He therefore, with the sanction of his 



234 SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 

employers, determined to reanuex it, for which some violent 
proceedings on the part of Risingh, the governor, afforded a 
fair pretext. Having assembled a force of six hundred men, he 
marched into New Sweden, as it was termed, which, after a short 
resistance, renounced that name, and became incorporated with 
the Dutch dependency. A few of the settlers returned to their 
native country ; the rest yielded to the mild sway of the con- 
queror. Stuy vesant was next annoyed by Lord Baltimore, who 
could boast that his charter entitled him to extend his borders 
to New England, leaving no room whatever for New^ Nether- 
lands ; but as his pretensions were not supported by any ade- 
quate force, they were easily evaded. 

The company, though they did not grant any political fran- 
chises to the colonists, took great care to have them well! 
governed, and to check those despotic practices in which Stuy-- 
vesant, from his military habits, was prone to indulge. Theyf 
prohibited likewise all persecution, and studied to make thee 
country a refuge for professors of every creed. From France,, 
the Low Countries, the Rhine, Northern Germany, Bohemia,; 
the mountains of Piedmont, the suffering Protestants flockedJ 
to this transatlantic asylum. Even the New Englanders, al-^ 
lured by the fine climate and fertile soil, arrived in great num- 
bers, and formed entire villages. It therefore became expedientt 
to have a secretary of their nation, and to issue proclamationss' 
in French and English, as well as Dutch. 

Considering the long and imbittered hostility of England! 
against the Dutch, it may appear wonderful that she did nott 
sooner attempt the conquest of a valuable possession, to which!) 
she had so plausible a title. Cromwell, in fact, had projected it,, 
but was diverted by other objects. Charles IL, always preju- 
diced against that people, soon adopted the same resolution ; and I 
even before any measure was taken for conquering the country,, 
he included it in a grant made to his brother James, of the terri- 
tory from the Kennebec to the St. Croix, and from the Connec- 
ticut to the Delaware. To make good this donation, Sir Robert^ 



CONQUEST BY THE Ex\GLISH. 235 

Nichols was sent out with an expedition, to be reinforced by a 
detachment from another colony. The Dutch had for some time 
foreseen the crisis; but, unwilling to expend their funds in sending 
troops, they urged the governor to seek means of defence within 
his own dominions. This, from circumstances which happened in 
the colony, was exceedingly difficult; and though Stuyvesant, in 
this emergency, granted the demand of the colonists for a repre- 
sentative assembly, it was too late to inspire confidence, and the 
people declined making any sacrifices to repel a power from 
; whom they hoped more Hberal treatment. In August, 1664, 
! Nichols cast anchor in face of New Amsterdam, having landed 
part of his troops on Long Island. He immediately summoned 
the city to surrender, guarantying to the people their property, 
the rights of citizens, their ancient laws and usages. The go- 
vernor attempted by delay and negotiation to parry the blov/ ; 
but the other declined all discussion, and the principal inhabitants, 
headed by Wirithrop from Connecticut, assembling in the town- 
hall, determined against offering any resistance. They drew up 
articles of surrender conformable to the demand of the English 
officer, w^hich, however, Stuyvesant refused to sign till the place 
was actually in the enemy's hands. 

The colonists were disappointed in their hope of augmented 

privileges, having fallen into the hands of the Duke of York 

(from whom the state derived its name), one who afterwards 

showed himself willing to sacrifice a crown in the attempt to 

establish absolute power. Under his direction, Nichols and his 

successor Lovelace admitted no sharers in their authority except 

a court of assizes, composed of a council and justices of the peace, 

all appointed by themselves. In the governor and this body 

was vested the whole power, legislative, executive, and judicial. 

I The arbitrary imposition of taxes, as usual, excited the strongest 

I, discontent. Nichols extracted sums of money by declaring new 

jisatents necessary for the Dutch, on which fees were exacted. 

Lovelace is said to have avowed the policy of laying on duties 

JO heavy, that the people might have leisure to think of nothing 



236 SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 

but the means of paying them. In some cases payment was re- 
fused; and from different quarters such warm remonstrances 
appeared, that they were condemned to be burned by the commonr 
executioner. In these circumstances, hostilities broke out be- 
tween England and Holland ; a small squadron, under Evertzen,i 
appearing before New York, encountered no resistance ; he re-j 
gained the city and country with the same ease and rapidity that 
Nichols had conquered it. The war, how^ever, was occasionedii 
by the famous league of Louis XIV. and Charles II., entirely tO( 
crush the Dutch repubhc. That people encountered it withh 
glory and saved themselves ; but in such a hard struggle, they) 
could not expect to secure conquests. It was honourable fori 
them to obtain a treaty, stipulating the restoration of those madei 
on each side ; but on this ground they again lost New York. 

The duke then obtained a new patent, securing more amplei 
powders than ever to govern the inhabitants by such ordinances as; 
he or his deputies should establish. Andros, long an instrumenti 
of despotism, was sent out as governor, but encountered in some( 
quarters open though fruitless opposition. James applauded hia; 
energy on this occasion, as well as his prudence in " discouraging^ 
all mention of assemblies." The people, however, were not b}j 
any means patient under this denial, especially when, at the ex-: 
piration of three years, for which the taxes had been at first im-i 
posed, they were renewed during an equal period, without the 
slightest reference to themselves. They made such loud com-, 
plaints against Andros, that he was recalled to answer for his 
conduct. Soon after. Dyer, collector of the revenue, was chargeci 
with high treason, for levying taxes without authority of law/ 
and sent to England for trial. Both were acquitted ; but the 
duke was so wrought upon by these violent measures, and the 
importunity of the colonists, that he at length agreed to give 8; 
representation. It was to consist of eighteen members, to act m 
conjunction with a council of ten : a concession which was less 
valued, because it was carried into execution by Dongan, a new 
governor, who, as a zealous catholic, was held in horror. The 



j ABDICATION OF JAMES. 237 

assembly was, however, called, and sat two sessions, 1683 and 
1684, passing several laws, which were confirmed by his royal 
highness. So great, on the whole, was the satisfaction felt, that 
his accession to the throne was hailed with heartfelt rejoicings. 
But a change had come over his views, or rather they had re- 
lapsed into their ordinary channel. The charter of Massachusetts 
j having been forfeited, and a determination formed to exclude the 
people from all representative government, it would have been 
very inconvenient to let them see neighbours possessing what 
was denied to themselves. Instructions were accordingly sent 
to the governor to call no more assemblies, but to centre again 
the legislative power in his own person. In 1688, Andros was 
sent out to unite New York, along with all the New England 
states, in one system of absolute rule. This annexation was 
peculiarly odious to the former, in whose eyes the others had 
always been objects of peculiar dread and aversion. Thus 
[ James, as the time approached when friends would be so much 
I wanted, studiously converted those he had into irabittered ene- 
! mies. The first rumours of his downfall were received with equal 
f joy here as at Boston. As soon as the landing of the Prince 
; of Orange was known, a multitude rose in arms, under the con- 
I duct of Jacob Leisler, a foreign merchant, of an ardent and dar- 
[ ing character. They signed a declaration, " to guard the fort, 
on behalf of the powers now governing England, to be surren- 
dered to the person, of the protestant religion, who shall be sent 
[ to take possession thereof." The council found themselves un- 
able to stem the torrent, and, without attempting to defend the 
place, requested Nicholson, the lieutenant-governor, to proceed to 
England in order to represent to WilKam the state of affairs, 
doubtless to influence him in favour of their own party, and re- 
present the declarants as turbulent and seditious. The latter, 
however, being left in the full possession of power, called an 
i assembly of the people, who were joined by two deputies from 
Connecticut. A committee of safety was appointed, having 



238 SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. J 

Leisler at their head, who was also placed in command of the 
fort. 

The king, meantime, before being apprized of these proceed- • 
ings, sent orders to Nicholson to continue for the present to ad- ■ 
minister affairs. But this functionary had set out for London 
before the instructions arrived, when Leisler, finding them ad- 
dressed to the absent officer, '' or to such as for the time execute 
the law," chose to consider them as applying to himself, and 
thereupon assumed the title and duties of governor. He held 
two assemblies, and concluded a treaty with New England, 
agreeing to raise nine hundred men for their mutual defence. 
But though supported by a majority, he was opposed by a 
powerful party, w^ho disowned his authority, and insulted him 
even in the capital ; while open resistance was raised in the dis- 
trict of Albany. The opposition was put down, but not without 
violent measures, w^hich inflamed still further the enmity of its 
supporters, and excited a degree of general odium. William, 
meantime, alw^ays disposed to employ the agents of his despotic 
predecessor, was guided by the advice of Nicholson, and, taking 
no notice of Leisler's pretensions, sent Colonel Sloughter to ad- 
minister the government. This officer did not arrive till March, 
1691, when he found the other most unwilling to relinquish the 
reins of power, which he had held upwards of two years. Pre- 
tending that the colonel's commission was defective, and that 
only an authority under the king's hand could be held sufficient, 
he refused to surrender the fort, or own him as chief ruler. But 
a large party arrayed themselves in arms against him, while his 
adherents, dreading the superior influence of the mother-country, 
afforded only timid support. He tendered his submission : but 
the new governor refused it, seized his person, and issued a 
special commission to try him : he and his associates were con- 
demned to death, and the sentence wms executed upon himself 
and Milbourne, his principal adviser. This punishment, consider- 
ing his former services, was regarded as exceedingly severe. 
The Parliament accordingly passed an act reversing the attain- 



STRIFES IN THE COLONY. 239 

der ; and the privy council, though they declared the sentence to 

I be legal, recommended the restoration of the forfeited estates. 
There remained a strong party attached to his memory, and 
zealous in upholding the franchises of the colony. 

Sloughter died suddenly soon after his arrival, and was suc- 
ceeded by Colonel Fletcher, an able officer, but intemperate and 
domineering. As the assembly strenuously maintained their 
privileges, he was speedily involved in violent contests with 

II them ; arising chiefly out of his attempt to introduce an Episco- 
pal establishment, to which he was bigotedly attached. By 
great exertions, he contrived to obtain an act of assembly sanc- 
tioning it ; but that body annexed a clause giving to the people 
the entire choice of their own ministers. Another favourite 
object was to obtain the command of the militia of Connecticut ; 
but when he went thither, the colonists, following an old pre- 
cedent, caused the drums to beat, by which his voice was en- 
tirely drowned. Astonished at this determination, he thought 
it best to retreat to his own jurisdiction ; and the legal authori- 
ties at home decided against him. At length, finding that the 
American assemblies were not to be intimidated, he gave up the 
attempt, and his latter years were tranquil. 

In 1698, he was succeeded by the Earl of Bellamont, who, 
having been highly popular in New England, seems to have 
desired to pursue a similar course in this colony. Unfor- 
tunately, he found it rent by the most violent dissensions be- 
tween the partisans of the unfortunate Leisler and their aristo- 
cratic opponents. He studied to soothe the former, and aided in 
procuring from the assembly a grant of 1000/. to the son of 
that leader. His administration, however, was too short to en- 
able him to overcome the prevailing dissensions. It was unfor- 

' tunate for him that Kidd, whom he employed in the important 

■ object of suppressing piracy, betrayed his trust, and became 
himself a robber on the high seas, for which he was sent to 

' Britain, tried, and executed. 

■11 Bellamont died, in 1701, and was succeeded by Lord Corn- 



240 SETTLEMENr OF NEW YORK. 

bury, a degenerate descendant of the Earl of Clarendon. En- 
tirely opposite to his predecessor, he showed an imbittered 
enmity to the popular party, accompanied by a bigoted attach- 
ment to Episcopacy, and hatred of all other forms of rehgion. 
He seconded also the attempts made by Dudley to subvert thej 
charter of Connecticut. Indulging in extravagant habits, he 
squandered large sums of the pubhc money, and contracted I 
debts, the payment of "which his official situation enabled him 
to evade. He thus rendered himself odious and contemptible e! 
to all parties, who united in a firm remonstrance to Queen Anne, 
and induced her to revoke his commission. No longer protected! 
by the privileges of office, he w^as throw^n into prison, and ob- 
tained liberation only when the death of his father raised himt^ 
to the peerage. 

Lord Lovelace succeeded, who, on his arrival, made a de-' 
mand, destined to cause much dissension, for a permanent salaryjl 
to the governor. Yet his general depjortment was popular! 
and satisfactory ; but he lived only a few^ months. The reinss 
were then held for a short time by Ingoldsby, who also made^ 
himself very acceptable ; and in 1710, the office was filled byj 
Sir Robert Hunter, a man of wit and talent, by which he hadi 
raised himself from a low rank in society. He went out, how-? 
ever, strongly imbued w^ith the monarchical principle, and de-^ 
termined to resist the claims of the assembly. In advancing? 'R 
the demand for a fixed income, he made use of very offensive 
expressions, insinuating doubts of their right to appropriate' 
the public money, and suspicions that it wt.s the government 
not the governor, whom they disliked. In the council also, tho 
doctrine was advanced, that the assembly existed only " by thf 
mere grace of the crown." The latter body strenuously vindi^ 
cated their rights, and refused to grant more than a temporary 
provision. They remonstrated strongly also against the estaAo 
blishment of a Court of Chancery, suspected to be with a viev^ if 
of increasing his emoluments. On this ground there seeme« li, 
great hazard of a collision ; but Hunter, being a sensible man( I 



BURNET'S ADMINISTRATION. 241 

and seeing their very strong determination, deemed it expedient 
to yield ; and, during his latter years, he studied with success 
to maintain harmony among the different branches of the ad- 
ninistration. 

He was succeeded by Burnet, a son of the celebrated bishop 
md historian, an accomplished, amiable man. He appears to 
lave zealously studied the welfare of the colony; he became 
^ery generally popular ; and w^as particularly successful in gain- 
ng over the Indian tribes. His attempt, however, to maintain 
he obnoxious Court of Chancery, involved him in violent dis- 
)utes w^ith the assembly. On the advice of a few patriotic but 
idiscreet individuals, he adopted the injurious measure of pro- 
libiting all commercial intercourse between New York and 
'anada. The pretext was, that the French merchants bought 
p the furs brought to Albany and other markets in the interior. 
'his, if true, must have arisen from the fact that they dealt on 
iore liberal terms than the English ; yet the latter were so far 
•om demanding this monopoly, that they exclaimed against it 
s ruinous to them, making such loud complaints, that in 1720, 
lurnet was removed, though compensated with the government 
f Massachusetts. 

, After a short interval, the direction of affairs was assumed in 

732 by Colonel Cosby, a man of such a violent character as 

reated general aversion to him. Strong interest was excited 

y the trial of Zenger, editor of a journal which had attacked 

is administration ; but through the exertions of Hamilton, an 

jainent advocate, he was triumphantly acquitted, Cosby died 

i 1736, and was followed by Clarke, who, having given scarcely 

iore satisfaction, yielded the place in 1741 to Clinton, who ruled 

iiwards of ten years with considerable success and popularity. 

iis successor. Sir Dan vers Osborne, suffered severely by the 

scovery, in 1754, of very arbitrary instructions transmitted to 

is im from home. A great ferment was thus kindled, but gradually 

dj ibsided ; and we shall find New York by no means forward in 

Di le cause of independence. 

21 



242 SETTLExMENC OF NEW JERSEY. 

New Jersey, being a branch detached from the state jus 
named, will be considered most advantageously in connexion witl 
that colony. When Nichols, in 1664, made the conquest of thij 
united territory, the tract along the seacoast, from the west enr 
of Long Island to the Delaware, appeared to him the most fa; 
vourable for settlement. He invited thither farmers from Nev 
England, who already displayed a migratory and enterprisin; 
character, and, going in considerable numbers, formed along th 
shore a range of villages. While Nichols, however, was exulti 
ing in the success of these efforts, he was struck with dismay bt 
a commission being presented to him, in which the Duke of Yori 
constituted Lords Berkeley and Carteret proprietors of this who!) 
line of coast. It had been granted even before the news of thl 
conquest arrived, and it may be presumed that a pecuniary corn* 
sideration was given, though nothing transpired on that subject? 
Chagrined beyond measure, he addressed to the duke a long let! 
ter, complaining that he had unguardedly parted with the mosi 
valuable portion of his patent, leaving New York almost with! 
out a territory. Not choosing to accuse the proprietors of hatj 
ing deceived his grace, he throws the blame on a Captain Scor' 
who he declared was born to work mischief. The guaranl 
tees, it is urged, should be made to accept a tract of one hundrel 
thousand acres on the Delaware, which, by an expenditure o^ 
£20,000, might yield profit, not to themselves, perhaps, but t' 
their children's children. The duke, however, honourably detent 
mined to adhere to his engagement. • 

The proprietors, in order to invite settlers, granted franchise^ 
of some importance. One was an assembly, half at least of tit' 
members of which were to be representatives, and without whof* 
consent no tax could be imposed. The owners reserved to thenf 
selves the veto and judicial appointments ; but they permitted fu' 
freedom of religious worship. Carteret went out as governoi 
and in compUment to him the colony was called New Jerse^ 
The profit of the proprietors was to arise solely from a quit-rei^ 
of id. an acre, to be levied only at the end of five years. All wer 



DIVISION OF JERSEY. 243 

on smoothly till that term arrived, when the settlers, being called 
upon for payment, showed very little disposition to comply. 
They urged, that they had purchased their lands from the Indians, 
and it was extremely hard, after advancing a price, to be required 
ito give a rent also. Discontents rose so high, that Carteret was 
obliged to leave the colony, and a natural son of his own was 
sleeted in his room. Soon afterwards, the country was conquered 
iby the Dutch ; and on its restoration next year, the people peace- 
libly received back their old governor, who gratified them by 
Dostponing to a later period the demand for quit-rents, and by 
:)ther concessions. The proprietors, however, were considerably 
fmnoyed by the rulers of New York, who, claiming rights of 
jurisdiction and taxation, particularly sought to prevent any trade, 
imless through the medium of their capital. James does not seem 
(,o have been disposed to sanction any actual breach of the ori- 
ginal contract ; and Jones, the chief justice, reported on the most 
essential points, in favour of the settlers. The local power, how- 
ver, of the greater colony, wielded by the impetuous Andros, 
vas successfully exerted to harass them in various modes. 
Meantime, as late as 1674, Lord Berkeley, disappointed in the 
opes with which he had embarked in the undertaking, sold half 
is territory for 1000/. to a party of Quakers, among whom the 
hief were Bylhnge, Fenwick, and William Penn. In arranging 
/ith Carteret, who still retained his share, it was found most 
onvenient to divide the province into two parts ; these were 
ailed East and West Jersey, — the latter being assigned to the 
ew owners. But the duke, whose concurrence was required to 
le transaction, took the opportunity of reasserting his dominion 
ver that portion, which w^as subjected to the arbitrary rule and 
ixation of New York. Jones, however, decided that, there 
aving been no reservation of such claims in the original grant, 
ley could not be now legally enforced. Hence, in 1680, the 
rovince was delivered in full right to the proprietors, w^hose 
bject was to render the place an asylum for the persecuted 
iuakers, a considerable number of whom were soon assembled. 



244 SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSEY. 

It became necessary to gratify them by a constitution, based on 
principles of liberty, and even of equality ; and they made preten- 
sions to the election of their own governor. 

In 1682, Carteret, finding little satisfaction in his possession! 
of New Jersey, sold all his rights to another body of twelve 
Quakers, Penn being again one. The new owners, with a view.' 
to extend their influence, added to their number twelve more 
of different professions, — the principal of whom was the Duke 
of Perth, a nobleman of great power in Scotland. His objecl 
was to offer an asylum to the Presbyterians of that country 
under the iniquitous persecution to which they were exposed 
Hunted like wild beasts from place to place, it was justly 
thought that many would gladly accept a home in the New 
World. A considerable number were accordingly conveyecj 
thither, and they formed a laborious, useful, and respectably 
class of settlers. 

Nothing, however, could secure them against the determina^ 
tion formed by James to subvert the rights of all the colonies^ 
and establish in them a completely despotic administrationil 
Andros, without any express authority, began to exercise botlti 
jurisdiction and taxation ; and as these were strenuously re( 
sisted, — the juries refusing to convict under them, — complainti 
were sent home of their insubordination. The duke hereupon! 
forgetting all his former pledges, ordered, in April, 1686, thai 
writs of quo warranto should be entered against both East ami 
West Jersey, " w^hich ought to be more dependent on his ma« 
jesty." The proprietors, having in vain attempted to deprecat 
this measure, at length deemed it expedient to surrender theii 
patent, only soliciting a grant securing their title to the soil 
but, before the transaction could be completed, it was inter 
rupted by the Revolution, which left them so feeble, howeve»l 
that the country is represented as remaining nearly in a state o( 
anarchy till 1702, when they were induced to surrender all thei^ 
political powers to the crown. The two Jerseys were the 
reunited, and were governed from that time as a royal colony.' 




CHAPTER IX. 

CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. 

HILE emigration proceeded so actively 
in various parts of North America, the 
regions south of Virginia, though of 
vast extent, and presenting many natu- 
ral advantages, had attracted little at- 
tention. The Spaniards, as long as they 
iould, jealously guarded this coast ; and the bloody catastrophe 
if the first French settlement was long remembered with terror, 
laleigh's original establishment had been formed within this 
inge ; and its tragical results, though not connected with the 
tuation, threw a gloom over all the recollections associated 
ith it. Yet flattering rumours were still spread ; and as the 
Ider settlements became crowded, detachments began to over- 
ow into this unoccupied tract. The river Nansemond, on the 
araediate border of Virginia, had been very early settled ; and 
)lonists thence found their way to the banks of the Chowan, 
1(1 the shores of Albemarle Sound. Much farther to the south, 
body of enterprising New Englanders had purchased from the 
idians a district around Cape Fear. Sir Robert Heath, in 
330, obtained a patent ; but having been unable to fulfil the 
)nclitions, it w^as declared forfeited. 

The reign of Charles II. was a period of large grants; for, 
iving many claims upon him while he had little to give, he was 
ady to bestow colonial rights. On the 2-Jth March, 1663, the 
hole coast, from the 36th degree of latitude to the river San 
. atheo, was granted under the name of CaroUna to a body of 
lohly distinguished personages, among whom were Monk, Duke 
< Albemarle, Lord Clarendon, Lord Ashley Cooper, afterwards 
hvl of Shaftesbury, Lord Berkeley, and his brother Sir William, 
<3vernor of Virginia. Their privileges w>ere as usual extensive, 

21 * (245) 



246 



SETTLEMENT OF CAROLINA. 




Lord Clarendon. 



and seem to have been in a great measure copied from those 
granted in the case of Maryland. The present occupants could 
only be considered as squatters ; yet, as men were much wantedi 
the utmost encouragement was given to them to remain, whild 
others were invited. Political and personal immunities, morn 
ample than were possessed by the neighbouring colonies, or were 
satisfactory to the views of some of the proprietors, were nor 
withheld. Berkeley, who brought additional emigrants from Vir-i 
ginia to Albemarle Sound, placed them under Drummond, a pru^ 
dent and popular governor. A party of planters from Barbadoes 
induced to remove to this congenial climate, were settled on Capd 
Fear River, near the New Englanders, and ruled by Sir Johri 
Yeamans, one of their own number. A few shipbuilders were 
also obtained from the Bermudas. 

In i(J65, the proprietors, still high in favour with Charles.! 
obtained a new patent with much larger privileges. Theiii 



NEW COiNSTITUTION. 247 

territory was now, without regard to Spanish claims, extended 
to the Pacific, while they were impowered to create titles and 
orders of nobihty. This appears to have been preparatory to 
the formation of what was intended to be a monument of human 
wisdom, — a constitution for the new colony. It was undertaken 
by Shaftesbury, the ablest statesman of the age, who employed 
upon it Locke, the illustrious philosopher ; and its object was to 
transport into the New World the varied ranks and aristocratic 
establishments of Europe. Two orders of nobility were to be 
instituted, the higher, of landgraves or earls, the low^er, of caciques 
3r barons. The territory was to be divided into counties, each 
containing four hundred and eighty thousand acres, with one 
landgrave and two caciques, a number never to be increased or 
:liminished. There were also to be lords of manors, entitled, 
like the nobles, to hold courts, and exercise judicial functions. 
Those possessing fifty acres were to be freeholders ; but the 
tenants held no political franchise, and could never attain any 
higher rank. All the estates were to sit in one chamber. The 
proprietaries v;ere always to continue eight in number, to possess 
the whole judicial power, and have the supreme direction of all 
the tribunals. One was to take cognisance of ceremonies and 
pedigrees, of fashions and sports. But it is needless to enter into 
farther details of a constitution which never did nor could have 
any practical existence. It must remain a striking proof how 
unfit the ablest men are to legislate for a society with whose 
condition and circumstances they are not intimately acquainted. 
Nothing could exceed the surprise of the colonists when this 
elaborate system was transmitted to them, with an urgent call 
for its immediate adoption. Albemarle, the chief settlement, 
could scarcely number fourteen hundred working hands ; how 
then was it to furnish its landgraves, its caciques, its barons? 
"The proprietors, on a representation of this state of affairs, were 
obliged to own that their magnificent system could not yet be 
carried into full execution ; but they required its introduction so 
'far as circumstances allowed, and its completion to be kept 



248 SETTLEMENT OF CAROLINA. j 

constanntly in view. Meanwhile, a series of temporary laws were ■ 
established, until the inhabitants should be ripe for the fundamental 1 
constitutions. They had formed, however, a simple code adapted I 
to their circumstances, which they preferred to one by which the?i 
popular privileges were materially abridged ; and its abrogation 
for a merely provisional system would have taken away every- 
thing stable and permanent in their political position. As Miller, 
who acted as administrator and collector of the revenue, had not 
given them satisfaction, they rose in a body, imprisoned him and! 
most of the council, seized the public funds, appointed magis- 
trates and judges, called a Parliament, and in short took into) 
their hands all the functions of government. Culpepper, the 
ringleader, came to England to plead their cause, a step which 
certainly does not seem to indicate consciousness of guilt ; but hei 
was arrested and brought to trial for high treason. Shaftesbury, , 
by his eloquence and popular influence, procured his acquittal, j| 
pleading that there had been no regular government in Albe--i 
marie, so that these disorders could only be considered as feuds 5: 
among the several planters. i 

The proprietors found themselves in an embarrassing situation, ,! 
unwilling to yield to the colonists and renounce their darling;: 
constitutions, yet neither desirous nor very able to reduce them i 
by force. They resolved, therefore, to send out as governor'! 
Seth Sothel, one of their own body, who had previously pur-- 
chased Lord Clarendon's share, and whose territorial rights 
would, they hoped, command respect. The colonists soon seized 
his person, and were about to send him to England to answer to i| 
the owners for the charges brought against him. Sothel pre- 
ferred to abide the judgment of the assembly themselves; a cir- 
cumstance which, joined to the sentence, seems to indicate that 
his conduct was not extremely atrocious. After finding all the 
accusations proved, they merely banished him from the colony for 
a single year, and declared him incapable of ever again holding 
the office of governor. The proprietors, though troubled at these 
stretches of power, yet, owning the complaints to be just, and 



ACCESSIONS OF EMIGRANTS. 249 

having been themselves wronged, sanctioned the proceedings, 
and nominated Philip Ludwell as their representative. 
I Meantime, they were bestowing a more special attention on 
the southern colony. In 1670, they sent out a considerable 
number of settlers under William Sayle, who was named gover- 
nor. He died soon after, and his place was supplied by Sir John 
Yeamans, once a Barbadoes planter, who had acquired a good 
reputation in his command at Cape Fear. He was speedily ac- 
cused, however, of sordid proceedings, in carrying on all the 
little trade of the colony for his own advantage. Affairs were 
in many respects unsatisfactory. The proprietors, like other 
similar bodies, already discovered that the colony, instead of a 
nine of wealth, was a constant drain ; they had expended on it 
jpwards of £18,000, without any return, but, on the contrary, 
lad to encounter new demands. They were therefore not un- 
vvilling to remove Yeamans in order to make room for West, a 
"avourite of the settlers. During his residence of eight years, 
le enjoyed a popularity rare among transatlantic rulers. The 
;olony flourished ; for, besides emigrants sent over by the pro- 
)rietors, a considerable tide flowed in from various quarters. 
The poor cavahers, considering it to have been founded upon 
heir own principles, sought it as a place where they might re- 
: rieve their fortunes. A number of Dutch in New York, dis- 
atisfied with their transference to British rule, thought, it 
carcely appears for what reason, that they would be more at 
ase in this new^ settlement ; and some of their countrymen from 
Europe were induced, to follow. The revocation of the edict 
f Nantz, and the persecution of the Protestants by Louis XIV. 
luring his bigoted dotage, drove out a large body of most re- 
pectable emigrants. A small party proceeded from Ireland, 
nd another from Scotland under Lord Cardross ; but the latter 
vere unfortunate, being nearly all destroyed by the Indians. 
This influx was considered to afl'ord an inducement for the erec- 
ion of a city. One was early founded on a high ground, above 
Ishley River, named Charleston ; but afterwards another spot, 
13* 






250 SETTLEMENT OF CAROLINA. 

called Oyster Point, at the junction of that stream with thd 
Cooper, was considered so much more eligible that the site was 
changed. The choice was happy ; and it has since become the 
chief emporium of the southern states. 

West was succeeded, in 1682, by Moreton, and the latter, in^ 
1686, by Colleton, a brother of one of the proprietors, and en^ 
dowed with the rank of landgrave. Under these governors, thei 
spirit of faction, which had in some degree slumbered, broke* 
forth with extreme violence. An obstinate dispute was wagedf 
between the three counties of Berkeley, Craven, and Colletonji 
respecting the number of members that should be sent from eachl 
to the assembly : that body also proposed two acts which can-i 
not be applauded, with a view to relieve the scarcity of money 
It was the purpose of the one to raise the value of the coin, and 
of the other to suspend the payment of foreign debts. The first 
was carried, whence arose a depreciation of the Carolina cur-' 
rency, which afterwards became extreme. The other was re-^' 
jected by the proprietors with reprobation. This was not well 
brooked by the assembly, who began to contest the legality of«l 
the fundamental constitutions, and to demand their original char-' 
ter. Discontents ran so high, that the people, in 1687, electedc 
an assembly expressly to resist whatever the governor shouldc 
propose ; and, in 1690, they passed an act banishing him from 
the province. Amid this ferment, appeared Seth Sothel, the re- 
jected of North Carolina ; and such was the influence of party, 
that he found no difficulty in occupying the place of his un-i 
popular predecessor, and in calling a pai»liament, which sanc- 
tioned all his proceedings. The proprietors were beyond mea-i 
sure astonished to hear of such a person setting up against themi 
as a leader supported by the people. They sent out the strictest 
orders for his immediate recall, appointing in his place Philipi 
Ludv^rell, with instructions, however, to examine and report as; 
to any real grievances. The chief complaint was found to bei 
against " the fundamental constitutions ;'' and as there appearedc 
no serious prospect of carrying into execution that famous code,' 



RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTIES. 251 

it was, in 1693, finally abrogated. Caciques, landgraves, and 

barons were swept away, and the labours of Shaftesbury and 
; Locke were given to the winds. It may be observed that James 

II., on his usual despotic principle, had prepared a quo warranto 
J against the charter ; but the proprietors, opening a treaty for its 

surrender, on condition of replacing the funds expended on it, 
; spun out the affair till that monarch became no longer an object 

of dread. 

These arrangements did not fully secure tranquillity ; and a 
. new source of dissension was afforded by the numerous body of 
I French Protestant refugees. Most of the original settlers, zea- 
. lously attached to the church of England, viewed with aversion 
, both their religious and national peculiarities, and refused to ad- 
I mit them to the rights of citizenship. At this treatment they 
i were justly indignant ; and disputes rose so high, that the pro- 
* prietors sent out one of their own body, John Archdale, a Qua- 
; ker, with full power to investigate and redress grievances. He 
I conducted himself with great prudence, and, though he could 

not procure for the new-comers all the desired privileges, suc- 
. ceeded in greatly allaying their discontent. After remaining a 
1 year, he left as his successor Joseph Blake, who steadily pur- 
i sued the same system, by which, in a few years, the parties were 
- reconciled, and the French admitted to all the rights of citizens. 
Blake died in 1700, and was succeeded by Moore, who, two 

years after, sought to distinguish himself by the capture of the 

French capital of St. Augustine. He himself, with the main 
■ force, proceeded by sea, while Colonel Daniel, with a party of 

militia and Indians, marched by land. The latter arrived first, 
: and took possession of the town, obliging the enemy to retreat 
I into the castle ; but the governor considered that post so strong, 

as to render it necessary to send to Jamaica for more artillery. 

On the appearance, hov/ever, of two Spanish ships, he was 
: seized with a panic alleged to be groundless, and precipitately 
I raising the siege, returned by land to Carolina. This repulse 



252 SETTLEMENf OF CAROLINA. 

was not only very mortifying, but entailed on the colony a heavy 
debt, which it could ill bear. 

In 1706, the Spaniards endeavoured to retaliate, and, aided 
by their French allies, equipped a considerable armament. 
Their admiral, Le Feboure, with five ships of war, forthwith 
summoned the capital ; but the governor, Sir Nathanial John- 
son, who had, with great spirit, though inadequate means, pre- 
pared for defence, sent an indignant defiance. The invader, 
whose main land-force had not yet arrived, imprudently sent on 
shore a small detachment, which was immediately attacked and 
cut off. This success inspired such courage, that Captain Rhett, 
with six small vessels, sailed against the enemy, who, struck 
with alarm, immediately retired. Soon after, an additional 
armament appeared, and a body of troops were landed ; but the 
English, flushed with victory, attacked them with such resolu- 
tion, that both they and their ships were captured. 

After some years of repose, the colony was involved in all 
the horrors of Indian war ; the origin of which is difficult to 
trace, though the settlers throw the whole blame upon the na- 
tives. It is manifest that they waged it with deep treachery 
and ferocity, and yet there seems room to suspect that they had 
heavy wrongs to avenge. The first burst was from the Tus- 
caroras, on the frontier of North Carolina, whose attack against 
the settlements on the Roanoke was made with the usual secrecy 
and rapidity, and above a hundred perished before measures of 
defence could be adopted. This was all that could be done till 
aid was procured from South Carolina, whence Captain Barn- 
well, with six hundred militia and three hundred and sixty In- 
dians, penetrated the intervening wilderness, defeated the enemy, 
and, pursuing them to their main fortress, obliged them to sur- 
render. They soon after migrated northwards, and formed a 
union with the Five Nations. 

A more formidable struggle awaited South Carolina. The 
Indians on its border had long been united with the colonists in 
alliance and common hostility to the Spaniards. When the 



MASSACRE OF PORT ROYAL. 253 

treaty of Utrecht had terminated the European war with the 
latter people, the natives soon announced that they had dined 
with the Governor of Florida, and washed his face, — a sure 
pledge of alhance. The colonists, who did not suspect that 
the enmity was to be transferred to them, allege that it was 
fomented by their old enemies; but the charge seems scarcely 
supported by any overt act. Certain it is, that the Yemassees, 
Creeks, Cherokees, and all the tribes from Cape Fear to the 
shores of the gulf, amounting to six thousand men, became united 
in one grand confederacy to exterminate the English name. Their 
preparations were enveloped as usual in profound secrecy ; and, 
even on the previous evening, when some suspicious circumstances 
were noticed, they gave the most friendly explanation. In the 
morning the work of blood commenced in the vicinity of Port 
Royal, where about ninety of the planters perished ; but the peo- 
ple of the place, happily finding a vessel in the harbour, crowded 
on board, and were conveyed to Charleston. The Indians 
collected from all sides, and advanced upon that capital ; two 
detachments, w^hich attempted to stop their progress, were sur- 
prised or ensnared, and suffered severely. Craven the governor, 
however, having mustered twelve hundred men fit to bear arms, 
succeeded in stopping their progress ; upon which, having col- 
lected all his strength, and receiving a reinforcement from North 
Carolina, he marched to the attack of their grand camp. The 
struggle w^as long and fierce, — the Indians having stationed 
themselves in a broken and entangled spot, fitted for their w-ild 
manoeuvres. At length they were completely defeated, and 
>oon after driven beyond the hmits of the colony. 

The termination of this contest was immediately followed by 
violent internal disturbances. The settlers had many grounds 
)f complaint against the proprietors, who had not afforded any 
pecuniary aid during the late sanguinary contest. At its close 
he assembly passed acts bestowing the lands whence the Indians 
lad been expelled upon such persons as might choose to occupy 
hem ; on the faith of which a party of five hundred emigrated 
i 22 



SS4 SETTLEMENT OF CAROLINA. 

from Ireland. But the proprietaries, annulling this grant, caused 
them to be ejected, and the tract divided into baronies for their 
own benefit. They disallowed other laws, which the colonists 
were extremely desirous to obtain, and sent orders to the gover- 
nor to sanction none which had not been previously submitted to 
themselves. They reposed their entire confidence in Trott, the 
chief justice, who was even accused of malversation in his office ; 
but the complaints against him from the people, and even the 
governor, were disdainfully rejected. This discontent, long fer- 
menting, broke out openly on a report of invasion from the Ha- 
vanna. In this emergency the assembly refused to vote any sup- 
plies ; a bond of union w^as drawn up, and signed by almost all 
the inhabitants. They transmitted a proposal to Johnson that 
he should continue to hold his office in the name of the king ; 
but as he declined the offer, Colonel Moore was elected. The 
other made some attempts to compel submission, but found his 
force inadequate. The issue of the whole transaction, however, , 
depended on the view which might be taken by the crown, 
always disposed to favour any arrangement that might extend 1 
its prerogative. The king, being absent in Hanover, had left : 
the government in the hands of a regency, who, on examining ; 
the case, decided that the proprietors had forfeited their char- • 
ter, and ordered proceedings to be instituted for its dissolution. . 
Acting certainly with great promptitude, as if this w^ere already 
effected, they named Sir Francis Nicholson governor, under a i 
commission from his majesty. That person, distinguished in other • 
stations for his active talents, had been accused of arbitrary- 
maxims ; but in Carolina he seems to have laid these aside, , 
and rendered himself extremely acceptable. He made great ex- • 
ertions to provide for religious instruction, and for the diffusion i 
of education. Through an alliance with the Creeks and Chero- 
kees, he secured the frontier, which had been considerably ha- ■ 
rassed by Indian incursions. 

In 1729, the transactions of the proprietors were finally closed 1 
by a deed surrendering all their rights into the hands of the .' 



EFFECTS OF SLAVERY. 255 

crown. They received in return 17,500/., with 5000/. for arrears 
of rent amounting to 9000/. ; but Lord Carteret, while resigning 
all political power, preferred to retain his claim to property in the 
soil, of which an ample portion was assigned to him. The colo- 
nists were gratified by the entire remission of their quit-rents. 
In 1694, the captain of a vessel from Madagascar, having touched 
at Carolina, had presented the governor with a bag of rice, 
w^hich being distributed among several farmers, throve so re- 
markably, that it had already become a staple of the settlement; 
and the privilege was now granted of exporting this article direct 
to any part of Europe southward of Cape Finisterre. North and 
South Carolina, too, which in point of fact had always been dis- 
tinct, and their occupied parts even distant from each other, 
were now finally declared to be two colonies, each to have its 
separate governor. 

From this era their affairs held a pretty uniform course, diver- 
sified only as the character of the successive governors was popu- 
lar or otherwise. They continued to draw numerous bodies of 
emigrants; and their career, both of agriculture and commerce, 
was extremely prosperous. This, it is painful to add, was in a 
great measure effected by large importations of negro slaves, which 
I enabled the wealthy to cultivate plantations on an extensive 
scale, and without personal labour. It appears also that re- 
proach was incurred by the harshness with which these captives 
were treated ; and serious alarms of insurrection w^ere entertained. 
To guard against this danger, they petitioned, in 1742, to be 
allowed to raise and maintain three independent companies ; a 
iboon which, though refused at first, was finally granted. These 
colonies derived a considerable accession from the rebellion of 1745, 
iat the close of which many adherents of the vanquished cause 
I were allowed to seek shelter in the western plantations, and in- 
duced by various circumstances to prefer the Carolinas. The 
discovery of indigo, as a native production, afforded, in addition 
I to rice, another article for which a sure demand would be found 
I m Europe. About the middle of the eighteenth century, too, 



256 SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA. 

when the other colonies began to have at least their best lands 
appropriated, this, which was still comparatively unoccupied, 
drew settlers from them, especially from Pennsylvania. Although 
estates along the coast were become scarce, valuable tracts re- 
mained in the interior, to which these American emigrants were 
pleased to resort. 

After all that had been done before 1732, for the peopling of 
Carolina, there remained a large district between the Savannah 
and the Alatamah^, claimed by Britain, yet completely uninha- 
bited. This disadvantage was more felt from its being bordered, 
not only by powerful Indian tribes, but by the Spaniards in Flo- 
rida and the French in Louisiana ; both having claims which, if 
circumstances favoured, they could plausibly advance. The 
planters were particularly anxious to have a settlement formed, 
that might stand like a wall between them and these trouble- 
some neighbours, but were much at a loss for persons who would 
voluntarily station themselves in a situation so unpleasant. 
Circumstances arose in England which afforded a prospect of 
supplying this want. 

General Oglethorpe, a soldier, brave, honourable, and humane, 
moved an inquiry, in 1728, into the treatment and condition of 
persons confined in the prisons of England, and in the following 
year presented a report upon this subject. It was found that, 
under the extremely bad management then prevalent, many per- 
sons imprisoned for debt or minor offences were treated most 
tyrannically, deprived of common comforts, and their morals far- 
ther injured by the associates with whom they were compelled 
to mingle. Many of them, even if hberated, could not have re- 
turned to the world with any prospect of comfort or advantage; 
and hence it occurred that to them a residence in the new conti- 
nent might form an extremely desirable change. They could 
not be fastidious as to the situation, and might there be formed 
into military colonies, as a barrier to the other states. The con- 
version and improvement of the Indians entered into this gene- 



ARRIVAL OF OGLETHORPE. 



257 




General Oglethorpe. 



ous plan. It was intrusted to a body of eminent persons, 
/ho undertook to act as trustees, not entering, like former 
ssociations, into a mercantile speculation for profit, but from 
hilanthropic motives devoting their time and contributions to the 
bject. They were to administer the colony during twenty-one 
ears, after which it was to revert to the crown. It was named 
reorgia, from the reigning monarch ; and Oglethorpe, with 
^hom the whole scheme had originated, undertook to act gra- 
litously as governor. A general enthusiasm prevailed through- 
nt the nation ; large sums were subscribed by benevolent indi- 
iduals; and Parliament, in the course of two years, voted 
6,000/. for the purpose. 
In the end of 1732, Oglethorpe, wath a party of a hundred and 
xteen, sailed for the new settlement. Having touched on 
leir way to South Carolina, his followers were most hospitably 
22* 



258 SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA. 1 

received ; and on their arrival, he made it his first object to | 
conciliate the neighbouring Indians, belonging to the powerful | 
race of the Creeks. His efforts, guided by sincerity and discre- / 
tion, were crowned with success. He prevailed upon Tomo- 
chichi, the head of this savage confederacy, to meet him at 
Savannah, accompanied by fifty other petty chiefs, called kings. 
This aged person, expressing his ideas as usual by outward 
symbols, presented to the governor the skin of a buffalo, on the | 
inside of w^hich the head and feathers of an eagle were painted. , 
This indicated the swiftness and power of the English, and also, 
by its softness and warmth, the love and protection which thetj 
Indians expected from them. This chief was even induced tot 
visit Britain, where he met with many attentions, and had anr 
audience of George II., W'hom he presented with a bunch off 
eagles' feathers, saying, '' These are a sign of peace in our land,! 
and have been carried from town to town there. We have( 
brought them over to leave them with you, O great king, as as 
token of everlasting peace. O great king, whatever words youi 
shall say unto me, I will faithfully tell them to all the kings off 
the Creek nation." In 1734, the town of Augusta was foundedt 
on the Upper Savannah, with a view to local trade. During thef 
same year, tw^o successive parties went out, amounting to five 
or six hundred, of whom one hundred defrayed their own ex- 
penses. About one hundred and fifty Highlanders were induced 
to join the colony, being well fitted for its military objects. A 
party of Moravians also arrived, w^hose industrious habits w^ere 
likely to be of great advantage ; and by a report of the trustees 
in 1740, it appeared that twenty-five hundred emigrants had 
been sent out, at an expense of 80,000/. John and Charles 
Wesley, then only known as zealous clergymen, were prevailed 
upon to accept livings in the colony. 

Notwithstanding these promising appearances, and this most 
zealous support, Georgia did not prosper. The proprietors began I 
with a series of regulations, well meant indeed, but carried to an i 



ATTACK ON ST. AUGUSTINE. 259 

extreme, and with little attention to existing circumstances. A 
complete prohibition was imposed on the introduction of rum, 
and even on all commercial intercourse with the West Indies. 
The importation of negroes was forbidden ; a laudable measure, 
but inVfignantly endured by the colonists, who saw much wealth 
accruing to Carolina from their employment. The lands were 
most injudiciously granted in small lots of twenty-five acres, on 
I condition of military service, and with that view descending 
.only to heirs-male. The settlers soon began to display those 
.faults which, from their previous condition, might have been an- 
■ticipated. Complaints w^re made against the Wesleys for their 
I extreme rigidness, their peculiar forms of worship, and for giving 
I their confidence to unworthy persons, who made fcdse pretences 
of piety. Feuds rose so high, that both L ft the colony. White- 
, field, founder of the rival sect of Methodists, went out in 1740, 
iwith a particular view to establish an orphan asylum, which did 
not succeed ; but his zealous and eloquent though somewhat 
rude addresses produced a strong impression, and were supposed 
to effect considerable good. 

Affairs were rendered still farther critical by the Spanish 
war, whi"^, after long irritation and petty aggression, broke 
out in 1738. Oglethorpe determined to attack St. Augustine, 
the capital of Florida. Great prepara[tions were made for this 
enterprise ; Virginia and the Carolinas furnished a regiment, as 
well as 120,000/. currency; and an Indian force undertook to 
iassist. The governor, who was thus enabled to make an in- 
ivasion with two thousand men, reduced two forts successively ; 
but the castle of St. Augustine itself was found too strongly 
fortified to allow a reasonable hope of reducing it, unless by 
iblockade. This he expected to accomplish by the aid of a 
strong flotilla, which came to co-operate with him. It proved, 
however, a very discouraging service for his undisciplined 
iwarriors; and the Indians, disgusted by an expression of hor- 
iror at their cruelty which escaped him, went off. The High- 



260 SETTLEME?IT OF GEORGIA. 



rv. >l 



landers, his best troops, were surprised, and a number cut to 
pieces ; while the militia lost courage, broke the restraints of 
discipHne, and deserted in great numbers. It proved impossible ; 
to prevent the enemy from procuring a reinforcement and large 
supply of provisions. In short, matters were in so adverse a 
state, that he had no alternative but to raise the siege, and re- 
turn with his armament seriously shattered, and his reputation 
impaired. 

The Spaniards, two years after, in 1742, attempted to re- 
taliate, and Monteano, governor of St. Augustine, with thirty- 
two vessels and three thousand men, advanced to attack Fred- 
erica. Oglethorpe's force was very inadequate, and the aid 
from the north both scanty and very slow in arriving ; yet he 
acted so as completely to redeem his military character. By 
skilfully using all the advantages of his situation, he kept the J 
enemy at bay ; then by various stratagems conveyed such an i 
exaggerated idea both of his actual force and expected rein- 
forcements, that they ultimately abandoned the enterprise, with- 
out having made one serious attack. 

Georgia was thus dehvered from foreign dangers; b*it she 3 
continued to suffer under her internal evils. The colonists com- • 
plained that absurd regulations debarred them from rendering ; 
their productions available, and kept them in poverty. Num- 
bers removed to South Carolina, where they were free from 
restraint ; and the Moravians, being called upon to take arms 
contrary to their principles, departed for Pennsylvania. Great 
efforts were made, as formerly in Virginia, to produce silk, but 
for the same reasons without any success. In 1752, the twenty- 
one years had ex})iied ; and the trustees, finding that their well- 
meant endeavours had produced only misery and discontent, re- 
linquished the charge. Georgia became a royal colony, and the 
people were left at full liberty to use all the means, good and 
bad, of advancing themselves ; lands were held on any tenure ; 
that best pleased them ; negroes and rum were imported without : 



CONDITION OF THE COLONY. 



261 



restriction ; and a free intercourse was opened with the West 
Indies. Thenceforth it was on a footing with South Carohna, 
and advanced with equally rapid steps, but exhibiting a some- 
what ruder character. 







Savaanah in 1778. 



CHAPTER X 



GENERAL AFFAIRS OF THE COLONIES TO THE PEACE IN 1764. 




NTIL the close of the war in 1763, 
f/ the colonies, of which we have thus 
delineated the origin and progress, were 
altogether unconnected. Each had been 
founded on a separate basis, by distinct 
and even hostile classes. Between neigh- 
bouring communities, where no senti- 
ment of unity reigns, jealousies almost inevitably arise ; and 
these were aggravated by boundary disputes and other contend- 
ing claims. Some governors, particularly Nicholson, recom-' 
mended the union of several of them under one head ; but these ■. 
were men of arbitrary temper, who urged this measure on the : 
home administration as a mode of extending the pov;er of the: 
crown, and keeping down the increasing spirit of independence. , 
Such communications, when they transpired, heightened not a i 
little the antipathy already felt to the proposed measure. 

There was, however, one object by which all the colonies ^ 
were roused to a most zealous co-operation. It might have ' 
seemed a hardship that the successive wars between Britain and 
France should be transferred to their rising settlements beyond 
the Atlantic ; but the inhabitants by no means felt it as such, 
and required only permission, in order to rush with fury against 
each other. The old national antipathy was remarkably strong 
in this ruder society ; the difference of creed made the contests 
be viewed somewhat as religious wars ; and the contrast be- 
tween an absolute and a free government appeared peculiarly 
striking on the English side, where maxims almost republican 
prevailed. At first the colonies followed in the footsteps of the 
mother-country ; but as their magnitude and importance in- 

(262) 



WAR WITH THE FRENCH. 263 

creased, the flame arose among themselves, and was thence 
communicated to Europe. 

Even so early as 1629, Sir David Kirk, having equipped a 
fleet, surprised and took Quebec ; but that infant settlement, to 
which little value was then attached, was restored at the peace 
in 1632. A severe collision, however, arose in consequence of 
the support afforded by the English from New York to the Five 
Nations, in the long and terrible war waged by them against 
the French in Canada. It was mostly carried on by skirmishes, 
in a covert manner, and without regular sanction from either 
power. But after the Revolution of 1688, open hostilities en- 
sued between the two nations, and Britain again determined to 
strike a blow against the enemy's power beyond the Atlantic. 
Acadia was subdued with little resistance, and Sir William 
Phipps, with thirty-four vessels and a large body of troops, 
reached Quebec. He did not, however, display the requisite 
promptitude; and through the able defence made by Count 
Frontignac, was obUged to re-embark without effecting his ob- 
ject. An attempt against Montreal was also defeated by the 
abihty of Des Callieres. The contest w^as suspended by the 
peace of 1697, when, to the great discontent of the inhabitants, 
Acadia was restored to France. During the war of the Spanish 
succession, two expeditions, the one in 1704, and the other in 
1707, failed in achieving the conquest of that province; but 
General Nicholson, in September, 1710, finally annexed it, under 
the title of Nova Scotia, to the British crown. He proceeded 
afterwards to make a grand effort against the Canadian capital, 
which was frustrated by the shipwreck of his squadron near the 
Seven Islands. Still the force of England was considered so 
superior, that she must ultimately have triumphed, had not the 
contest been terminated in 1713 by the peace of Utrecht. France 
retained Canada, but was obliged to cede Acadia and Newfound- 
land ; also to make over to Britain her claims to the sovereignty 
of the Five Nations. 
- .A long peace now followed, and though jealousies continued, 



264 



GENERAL AFFAIWS OF THE COLOxNIES. 




Wreck of the Fleet. 



no open hostilities ensued till 1744, when the war, which Bri- 
tain had for several years waged with Spain, was extended toj 
France. The latter power, though deprived of Nova Scotia by^ 
the treaty of Utrecht, had retained Cape Breton, and erected; 
upon it Louisburg, which, by an expenditure of 1,200,000/., was 
supposed to have been rendered one of the strongest of modern i 
fortresses. The New England colonies, however, having, withi 
characteristic ardour, determined to attack it, raised four thousand 1 
men, and placed them under the command of Colonel Pepperel, ; 
who, on the 30th April, 1745, took the enemy somewhat by sur-- 
prise. Being seconded by the fleet under Admiral Warren, he in i 
seven weeks reduced this grand bulwark of their power in Ame-- 
rica ; and though they made several vigorous efforts, they did nott 
succeed in retrieving this disaster. Nevertheless, at the treaty off. 
Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, the colonists had the mortification to 



FRENCH AGGRESSIONS. 265 

see the fruits of their valour snatched from them, Cape Breton 
being restored in exchange for some continental advantages, 
which were more highly prized by the British king and ministry. 
They expressed the deepest discontent, and hesitated not even 
to charge the government at home with a desire to maintain the 
power of Louis, in order to check the spirit of internal inde- 
pendence. 

The French, meantime, had become inspired with an eager 
desire to extend their North American possessions. Having at 
various points been brought into contact with the back settle- 
ments of their rival, they had been generally successful in gaining 
the alHance of the Indians, from whose warlike character import- 
ant aid was expected. They made the most active movements 
in New Brunswick, hoping thence to penetrate into Nova Scotia, 
where they would find a population originally French, and still 
strongly attached to the country of their fathers. But the en- 
terprises which caused the greatest inquietude took place along 
the Ohio and the Mississippi. The colonists had already, at 
different points, penetrated the barrier of the Alleghany, and be- 
^un to discover the value of the country extending to those 
mighty streams. The enemy, on the other hand, in virtue of 
certain voyages made in the preceding century by Marquette and 
La Salle, claimed the whole range of the Mississippi, by attain- 
ing which, their settlements in Canada and New Orleans would 
36 formed into one continuous territory. This pretension, if 
eferred to that peculiar law according to which Europeans have 
livided America among themselves, seems not wholly unfounded. 
They had added, however, a more exorbitant claim to all the 
;treams falling into the great river, which w^ould have carried 
hem to the very summit of the Alleghany, and have hemmed in 
he British colonists irP a manner to which they were by no 
neans disposed to submit. The banks of the Ohio became the 
lebateable ground on which this collision mainly took place. 

The British were so confident of their right, that in 1749, an 
issociation of merchants was formed in London, combined with 
I 23 



266 GENERAL AFFAIRS OF THE COLONIES. 

Virginian planters, called the Ohio Company, who received from 
the crown a grant of six hundred thousand acres on that river. 
Similar donations were made to other parties, who could not with 
any degree of safety turn them to account, in the face of such 
pretensions as the French advanced and showed a determination 
to support. These assumed so menacing a character, that Mr. 
Dinwiddle, governor of Virginia, under instructions from home, 
judged it necessary to send a commissioner to examine the state 
of affairs on that frontier, to confer w^ith the French commander, 
and urge him to desist from farther encroachment. This little 
expedition is memorable from the command being intrusted to 
Major George Washington, a youth of twenty-one, whose steady 
and intelhgent character already pointed him out for this deli- 
cate employment. He departed on the 31st October, 1753, and 
after many difficulties in travelling five hundred and sixty miles 
across a rugged part of the Alleghany, arrived at the station of 
M. de St. Pierre. He w^as received with all the national cour- 
tesy and urbanity ; but after two days an answer was returned, 
couched in respectful yet determined language. The command- 
ant described himself as only a military man, w^ho could decide 
nothing on such an application, which ought to be addressed to 
the Marquis Du Quesne, governor of Canada, under whom he acted, ij 
and whose orders he was bound to obey. Moreover, the inferior! 
officers at a frontier post, after an evening entertainment given: 
to the major, becoming heated with wine, announced, even with' 
an oath, their absolute intention to take possession of the Ohio 
Washington had observed on his way the position at the j unction f 
of the Alleghany and Monongahela, termed the tv^'0 forks of: 
that river, and strongly recommended that it should be fortified.' 
He held communication with a number of Indians, who expressed i 
a friendly disposition to his countrymen, and a jealousy of the< 
manner in which they saw the French occupying their country,' 
But others had been gained over by that nation, a party of [ 
whona made a fruitless attempt tq intercept his return. 

The intelligence obtained on this occasion convinced the<jl 



ACTIVITY OF WASHINGTON. 



267 




Washington and M. St. Pierre, 



I governor that nothing but force would enable Britain to main- 
tain her jurisdiction over this territory. His object was now to 
■ raise an adequate body of troops; but the assembly of Vir- 
iginia showed no disposition to come forward, and were with 
I great difficulty induced to vote 10,000/. Carolina contributed 
12,000/. Only three companies, however, mustered under 
iWashington, now colonel, who soon received the alarming in- 
telligence, that a party under Captain Trent, employed by the 
Ohio Company in erecting a fort on the river, had been obliged 
ito capitulate, obtaining only liberty to retire. The French had 
also anticipated their rivals by commencing a fort at the junc- 
tion of the Ohio Forks, which they named Du Quesne, after 
their governor-general. 

Washington now urgently called on the different states to 
contribute to the common defence, pointing out the necessity 



268 GENERAL AFFAIRS OF THE COLONIES. 

of strong reinforcements ; and, meantime, his enterprising spirit 
impelled him to push forward, even with his small numbers, 
hoping at least to pave the way for a larger force. On ap- 
proaching, he was informed that a French detachment of fifty 
men were marching towards him with apparently hostile inten- 
tions, who soon afterwards encamped at a small distance. Ad- 
vancing with some chosen troops and a party of Indians, he 
attacked them by surprise, and speedily defeated them. Jumon- 
ville, the commander, and ten of his men, were killed, while 
twenty-two were wounded. A loud clamour was raised on this 
occasion by the French, who declared that their officer was 
merely the bearer of a summons, and that his death was an act 
of positive assassination. Washington never deigned to reply 
to this charge ; but his friends have observed, that the great 
numbers of the French, and their mode of approaching, did not 
at all accord with the representation of their being political 
envoys, but, coupled with the previous violence, gave every 
ground to believe that they intended to make good their preten- 
sions by force. 

Three additional companies had been placed under Colonel 
Fry, who was advancing to take the command, but died sud- 
denly on the w^ay. They were then forwarded to Washing- 
ton, whose force they did not augment to more than four 
hundred. But even with this small body he advanced upon 
Fort Du Quesne, when intelligence arrived that an army of 
eighteen hundred French and four hundred Indians were pre- 
paring to attack him. He had now no choice but to fall back 
to a spot called the Great Meadows, where he began to erect a 
fort named, from the circumstances, Necessity. The ditch, how- 
ever, was not completed, when, on the 3d July, M. de Villiers 
arrived with nearly one thousand men, and commenced an attack 
which continued from eleven in the morning till eight in the 
evening, without any decisive result. The French commander 
then sent proposals for a capitulation : they were rejected ; but 
during the night terms were agreed upon, which, under the try- 



COLONIAL CONVENTION. 269 

ing circumstances of the besieged, were considered honourable. 
The British were allowed to march out with all the honours of 
war, retaining their baggage, and everything except their artil- 
lery ; being also assured of a safe retreat into the low country. 
The conduct of the campaign was on the whole highly ap- 
proved, and a vote of thanks passed by the House of Burgesses 
to Colonel Washington and his officers. 

By this time the colonists began seriously to feel the ab- 
sence of some general co-operation against this formidable 
enemy. Those who stood most immediately exposed to attack, 
complained that upon them alone was thrown the whole burden 
of repelling it ; and the government at home were at length in- 
duced to recommend a convention of delegates being held at 
Albany, to concert with each other, and with the chiefs of the 
Six Nations, a plan of united defence. The New England 
states, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York, complied with 
the advice, and appointed deputies, who assembled in June, 
1754 ; when the lead was taken by Benjamin Franklin, who 
ranked already as one of the most intelligent and distinguished 
citizens of America. Rising from an humble station, he had 
acquired a paramount influence in his own state of Pennsylvania, 
and been appointed postmaster-general for the colonies. He soon 
submitted to his colleagues a very bold and important project. A 
general government, consisting of a president appointed by the 
crown, and of a council of representatives from the respective 
colonies, were to be invested with the general direction of war, 
peace, treaties, and transactions with the Indians. They were 
to have the power of imposing such taxes as might be deemed 
necessary for these purposes ; and their acts, if not disallowed 
by the king within three years, were to acquire the force of 
law. They might also levy troops, the commanding officer be- 
ing appointed by the president, subject to the approbation of the 
council. For this scheme Franklin gained the approbation of 
all the delegates, except those from Connecticut ; but when 
submitted to the respective governments, it met a verv difTprent 
23* 



270 



GENERAL AFFAIRS OF THE COLONIES. 




i 



Benjamin Franklin. 



fate. They all considered these powers, especially that of 
taxation, as far too great to be placed in the hands of a body 
over whom each had so little control. Its reception was 
equally unfavourable in the British cabinet, who viewed it, 
not without reason, as an arrangement rendering America al- 
most entirely independent. Thus the plan, recommended as it 
was by such high authority, proved wholly abortive ; though 
perhaps it had some small influence in paving the way for a 
similar union, which future emergencies induced the colonies to 
form. 

The British ministry were, however, determined to support 
their cause with the utmost vigour. Warm remonstrances were 
made to the court of France, which lavished in return pacific 



DEFEAT OF BRADDOCK. 271 

professions and even promises ; but they were directly contra- 
dicted by actions, which left no doubt of a firm determination to 
maintain her lofty pretensions. It was resolved, therefore, to 
employ force in driving the French from their present advanced 
position ; and in the beginning of 1755, General Braddock, with 
two regiments, was despatched from Ireland to co-operate with 
the Virginian forces in obtaining the command of the Ohio. His 
arrival excited enthusiastic hopes, and at Alexandria he iriet the 
governors of five colonies assembled to concert the general plan 
of a campaign. Washington had quitted the army on account 
of a regulation by which the colonial officers were made to rank 
under those of the regular army; but, at the solicitation of 
Braddock, he consented to act as his aide-de-camp, in the charac- 
ter of a volunteer. Yet their movements were almost arrested 
by the failure of the Virginian contractors to furnish the wagons 
necessary for transporting the baggage and artillery. In this 
emergency, Franklin, by great exertions, and by influence with 
the farmers of Pennsylvania, succeeded in procuring these sup- 
plies ; but before they could be transported across the rugged 
Alleghany, a long time would necessarily elapse, during which 
the enemy might strengthen Du Quesne and reinforce the gar- 
rison. At the earnest entreaty of Washington, it was therefore 
determined to press forward with twelve hundred well-appointed 
men, and that Colonel Dunbar, with the heavy artillery and bag- 
gage, should remain behind. Washington, however, was dismay- 
ed to find that Braddock, though a brave and experienced officer, 
was wedded to the forms of regular European warfare. Instead 
of causing his troops to push briskly across the intervening ob- 
stacles, he employed them in levelling every hillock, and throw- 
ing bridges over every brook. Again, though advised to accept 
the offered aid of some Indians, at least for scouring the woods 
and guarding against surprise, he despised such auxiharies, and 
treated them so coldly that they quickly dropped off*. Wash- 
ington, being unfortunately seized with a violent illness, was un- 
able by his utmost efforts to keep up with the army, but rejoined 



272 GENERAL AFFAIRS OF THE COLONIES. 

it on the evening of the 8th July, within fifteen miles of Fort 
Du Quesne, against which this laborious movement was directed. 
The garrison was understood to be small, and quite inadequate 
to resist the great force now brought to bear upon it ; exulting 
hope filled every heart ; and no one doubted to see the British 
flag waving next day over the battlements, and the enemy root- 
ed out from all Western America. The march next morning is 
described as a splendid spectacle ; being made in full mihtary 
array, with a majestic river on one hand, and deep woods on the 
other. Not an enemy appeared, and the most profound silence 
reigned over this wild territory. They proceeded, forded the 
stream, and were passing a rough tract covered with wood, 
which led direct to the fort, when suddenly a destructive fire 
was poured in upon the front, while another rapidly followed on 
the right flank. The assault was continued by an enemy who 
remained invisible, closely hidden behind trees and ravines. The 
vanguard fell back in a confusion which soon became general. 
Their only hope would now have been to quit their ranks, rush 
behind the bushes, and fight man to man with their assailants ; 
but Braddock insisted on forming them into platoons and columns, 
in order to make regular discharges, which struck only the trees. 
After some time spent in these fruitless efforts, with the hidden 
fire still unabated, a general flight ensued, that of the regulars 
being the most precipitate and shameful, while the only stand 
was made by the Virginian militia. The officers in general re- 
mained on the field while there seemed any hope of rallying 
their troops, and, consequently, out of eighty-six engaged, sixty- 
three were killed or w^ounded ; the commander himself mortally. 
Of the privates, seven hundred and fourteen fell ; the rout was 
complete, and the more disgraceful, in that it was before an in- 
ferior enemy, whose number did not exceed eight hundred and 
fifty, of whom only two hundred and fifty were Europeans. 
During this disastrous day, Washington displayed an admirable 
courage and coolness. After the fall of so many officers, he 
alone remained to convey orders, and was seen galloping in every 






EXPEDITION AGAINST CROWN POINT. 273 

direction across the field, amid the thickest fire ; yet, by a dis- 
pensation which seemed providential, though four balls passed 
through his clothes, and two horses were killed under him, he 
escaped unhurt ; and, very contrary to his wdsh, this melancholy 
disaster greatly elevated his reputation. The remnant of the 
army retreated precipitately into the low country, whither the 
French considered themselves too weak to pursue them. 

Meantime, a militia force of about five thousand men was as- 
sembled at Albany, for an expedition against the important fort- 
ress of Crown Point, on the borders of Canada. The com- 
mander was William Johnson, an Irishman, who had risen from 
the ranks, and whose uncommon bodily strength, with a rude 
energy of character, had enabled him to acquire a greater influ- 
ence over the Indian tribes than any other British officer. Hav- 
ing reached the southern extremity of Lake George, and learned 
that the enemy were erecting an additional fort at Ticonderoga, 
he resolved to push forward, hoping to reduce it before the 
works were completed. Intelligence, however, was soon re- 
ceived, which obliged him to stand on the defensive. Baron 
Dieskau, an able commander, had carried out from France a 
large reinforcement, and having added to them a considerable 
body of Indians, was advancing to attack the British settle- 
ments. He at first proceeded towards Oswego, but on learning 
the advance of Johnson, hastened to direct his operations against 
him. The latter had fortified his camp, but, through defective 
information, sent forward an advanced party of one thousand 
men, who at the distance of about three miles unexpectedly met 
the enemy, and were driven back with great loss. Dieskau then 
marched forward to assault the main camp, which he seemed to 
have a fair prospect of carrying ; but Johnson received him w^ith 
the utmost firmness, and, opening a brisk fire, caused the Indians 
and mihtia to fall back. The French regulars maintained the 
contest several hours with great vigour, and the British general 
was even obliged by a severe wound to leave the command to 
Lyman, his second. The final result, however, was, that the 



274 GENERAL AFFAIR^ OF THE COLONIES. 

assailants were completely repulsed, with the loss of nearly one 
thousand men. Dieskau himself was mortally wounded and 
made prisoner ; and his retreating forces, being suddenly assailed 
by a small detachment from New York, abandoned their bag- 
gage, and took to flight. It was thought by many, that if 
Johnson had followed up his victory by an attack on Crown 
Point, or at least on Ticonderoga, he would have succeeded ; 
but he did not choose to hazard the laurels already gained. 

It may be mentioned also that in this busy campaign, Shirley, 
the governor of Massachusetts, led an expedition against Nia- 
gara ; but the difficulties of the march, and the discouragement 
spread by the tidings of Braddock's defeat, prevented his en- 
gaging in any undertaking. It would seem, indeed, that the 
British forces were scattered in too many quarters, instead of 
concentrating themselves in one united effort against some im- 
portant position or commanding stronghold. 

The war which had thus for some time been covertly waged 
between the two nations, was, in 1756, openly declared ; and 
increased exertions were made on both sides. In a council of 
governors held at New York, three expeditions were planned, in 
which twenty-one thousand men were to be employed. Aber- 
crombie and Lord Loudon, however, who successively went out 
as commanders-in-chief, did not possess the requisite energy ; 
and discontents arose among the provincial officers, from being 
compelled to take rank under the regulars. The French force, 
meantime, was united under Montcalm, an officer of high spirit ; 
and while the British were deliberating, he hastened against the 
two forts at Oswego, which, as they protected Lake Ontario, 
formed their principal bulwark in that quarter. On the 10th of 
August he began the siege of the first, which was soon evacuated 
by its defenders, owing to the failure of their ammunition ; and 
he then assailed the other with such vigour, that it surrendered 
on the 14th, Colonel Mercer, the commander, having been killed 
in the attack. The garrison, amounting to fourteen hundred, 
became prisoners of war, while one hundred and twenty-one 



FORT WILLIAM HENRY TAKEN. 275 




Massacre at Fort William Henry. 

pieces of cannon, with a quantity of stores, sloops, and boats, fell 
into his hands. In the following year, he marched against Fort 
WilHam Henry, qn Lake George, commenced the siege in the 
beginning of August, and compelled it, in six days, to surrender. 
The defenders stipulated to march out with the honours of war, 
and rejoin their countrymen ; but these terms were completely 
violated by the Indians, who barbarously massacred a great 
number of them. Montcalm's friends have studiously defended 
i him against any charge, even of neglect, on this dreadful occa- 
sion ; but blame was attached, at the time, both to him and his 
officers, and there was accordingly kindled throughout the colo- 
nies a deep thirst for vengeance. 

Hitherto, this war had been an almost continued series of dis- 
aster and disgrace ; and in Europe similar results were seen to 
follow the feeble measures of the cabinet. But the spirit of the 
nation, being now roused, forced into power William Pitt, per- 
haps the most energetic war-minister who has ever swayed the 
British councils. Adverse to military operations in Germany, he 
turned his main attention to the North American colonies, and 



276 



GENERAL AFFAIRS OF THE COLONIES. 




William Pitt. 



by vigorously announcing his resolution, drew forth from them- 
selves strenuous exertions. Lord Loudon was superseded by 
Amherst, a more able commander ; while the most active part 
was assigned to Wolfe, a young officer, in whom the discerning 
eye of Pitt discovered a rising military genius. It being deter- 
mined to strike the first blow against Louisburg, considered the 
centre of French power in that quarter, an expedition sailed 
against it in May, 1758, and by the end of July, chiefly through 
his exertions, it was compelled to surrender. This success was 
followed up next year by a more formidable attempt, under the 
same commander, against Quebec, capital of New France. On 
the 13th September, 1759, a splendid victory, dearly purchased 



QUEBEC TAKEN. 



277 




Death of General Wolfe. 



indeed by the death of that gallant officer, placed the city in the 
undisputed possession of Britain. 

After this triumph, France could with difficulty maintain her 
posts in the interior. In 1758, General Abercrombie, with six- 
teen thousand regulars and provincials, marched against Crown 
Point and Ticonderoga. The first skirmish was marked by the 
fall of Lord Howe, a young officer of high promise, and much 
beloved in America. The commander, having soon after made 
a premature assault on the last-mentioned fort, was repulsed 
with considerable loss, when he raised the siege and precipi- 
24 



278 GENERAL AFFAIRS OF THE COLONIES. 

lately retreated. Colonel Bradstreet, however, at the head of 
a detachment, captured Fort Frontignac, a post of some conse- 
quence on Lake Ontario. 

Meantime the Virginians, notwithstanding their most earnest 
wishes, had in vain attempted to renew the expedition against 
Fort Du Quesne ; having placed under the command of Wash- 
ington a force barely sufficient to check the incursions of the 
French and Indians. In 1758, however, under the auspices of 
Pitt, General Forbes arrived with a body of troops, which the 
provincials soon raised to six thousand ; but, contrary to the 
urgent advice of the American, instead of pushing on by a 
track already formed, he undertook to cut a new one through 
forests almost impracticable. He accordingly failed to reach 
the scene of action till November, when the season was too 
late for active operations, and the provisions were nearly ex- 
hausted. A party under Major Grant, having rashly advanced, 
were defeated with great loss. The situation of the army ap- 
peared very serious, when news arrived that the garrison, re- 
duced to five hundred, and discouraged probably by the fall of 
Louisburg and the dangers menacing Canada, had set fire to 
the fort, and retreated in boats down the river. The Indians, 
who had already abandoned their cause, readily entered into 
terms with the British, and tranquillity was established along 
the whole line of the back settlements. 

In 1759, General Amherst, co-operating with Wolfe, marched 
against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, which were evacuated 
on his approach. Prideaux, meantime, with a strong detach- 
ment, advanced and laid siege to Niagara. He was accident- 
ally killed ; but Sir William Johnson, his successor, pushing 
operations with increased vigour, completely defeated a large 
force which had been collected "against him, and finally obliged 
the garrison to surrender prisoners of war. Amherst could not 
open a communication with Quebec, which was in great danger 
of being retaken during the winter ; but it was saved by the 
good conduct of General Murray. Next summer, that officer 



RAPID GROWTH OF THE COLONIES. 279 

from Quebec, and General Amherst from Niagara, made a com- 
bined march upon Montreal, which the Marquis de Vaudreuil 
still attempted to maintain ; but he was obhged, on the 8th 
September, 1760, to sign a capitulation for the city as well as 
for the whole of Canada. By the peace of Paris, France 
ceded it and all the adjacent countries. Spain w^as also obliged 
to yield Florida ; and Britain acquired a vast, compact, and 
flourishing empire, reaching from the arctic zone to the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

It would have been satisfactory, could we have added a par- 
ticular view of the progress made during this period by the 
colonies, in population, industry, and wealth. Their advance 
was certainly most rapid ; yet the details are scanty, and i^ 
many cases doubtful. They w^re favoured by a combination 
of circumstances almost unprecedented. An industrious race, 
skilled in agriculture, were transported to a country where land 
to any extent could be easily obtained. The abundance of the 
necessaries of life thus produced, removed all check to marriage 
and the rearing of children ; while the same circumstances in- 
vited a continual influx of emigrants from Europe. Hence 
arose a rapid increase of population, of which the modern world 
at least had never seen any example ; doubling, it was supposed, 
in twenty-five or even twenty years. Of this a satisfactory 
proof was obtained from the imposing aspect under which the 
colonies appeared at successive periods ; yet, down to the year 
1790, no precise particulars were ever obtained. 

The commercial progress of the colonies was very rapid. 
Their exports consisted almost exclusively of the rude produc- 
tions of land ; a circumstance most grateful to the English peo- 
ple, since it naturally led to the desire to take their commodities 
n exchange. Their progress in agriculture, by absorbing at 
3nce their capital and their labour, prevented them from making 
my attempt to manufacture goods for themselves ; while, by in- 
creasing their wealth, it induced them to prefer the fabrics of 
Britain to the rude home-made stuff's with which they had been 

I 



280 GENERAL AFFAIRS OF THE COLONIES. 






at first contented. There was, however, a difficulty in findin 
articles, such as the rich products of the West Indies, which 
would obtain a place in the market of Europe. Silk and wine, 
the early objects of hope and pride, never succeeded; and though, ■' 
in 1731, there were exported from Virginia three cwt. of thet 
former, their expectations from this source ultimately proved j 
fallacious. What they vainly sought, however, came upon themii 
from unexpected quarters ; and we have seen how tobacco forced 1 
itself into the place of a leading export. During the present I' 
period Virginia and Maryland became the chief sources whence eii 
all Europe was supplied. In 1774 and the two succeeding years,." 
Britain imported 40,000,000 pounds, whereof 30,000,000 were^li 
re-exported. Rice also was accidentally introduced in the manner it 
already mentioned ; and so congenial was the swampy soil of 
Carolina to its culture, that nearly the whole quantity consumed ^ 
in Europe was raised in that plantation. The productions of j 
the northern colonies being nearly the same with those of Bri-^ 
tain, met with no demand from British merchants; but the sur-h 
plus of grain found a market in Spain and Portugal ; provisions^ 
and timber were sent to the West Indies; and thence they ob-'J 
tained the means of paying for British manufactures. To New J 
England, also, the fisheries and ship-building were a source of ' 
ever-increasing wealth. In New^ England alone, the value of ex- • 
ports increased from 1700 to 1763, from 86,000/., to 259,000/.: : 
while in all the colonies, during the same period, they increased I 
from 343,000/. to 1,632,000/. 



THE END. 



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and more elaborate works connected with the annals of our empire, are nevertheless ■ 
anxious to have presented to them the means of acquiring an accurate knowledge of j 
the records of our Fatherland, in such a form as to leave upon the mind and heart aa 
enduring, indelible impression." 

That our industrious historian has attained his object, the intelligent reader will find 
in the interest excited, the clear views in.oarted, and the deep impression effected by 
his animated portrayals of both events and mdividuals. This has been the original and • 
Rcknowledged characteristic of Heir Kohlrausch's work throughout its entire existence 
but in the new edition, from which this translation has been rendered, he has endeavour- 
ed to make it as perfect as possible, both in matter and style, and besides this has en 
riched it with many valuable notes not contained in the former editions : thus making it, 
in reality a concise, yet, in every respect, a complete history of Germany. 

It is important to remark, that Professor Kohlrausch is a Protestant, and one distin 
guished not less for his freedom from prejudice and impartiality, than for the comprehen- 
siveness uf his views and the high tone of his philosophy. The general adoption of the work 
—alike by Protestant and Romanist — is proof sufficiently convincing of the impartiality ot 
his statements, and of the justice of his reflections and sentiments. 



" After England, no country has stronger claims upon the attention of Americans thui 
Germany Its institutions, language, literature and national character combine to ren- 
der its history highly interesting. The place it has occupied among nations for 1000 
years — that is, ever since the era of Charlemagne — has been, on the whole, second to 
none in importance Some of the greatest inventions — among them gunpowder and the 
art of printing — owe their origin to the Germans. The literature of Germany is novl 
exciting a marked influence over our own, and we can never forget that Germany is the 
cradle of the Reformation. 

" Notwithstanding all these claims upon our attention, it is not to be denied that the 
history of Germany has been very little known among us. Few persons except the highly 
elurated have more than a very meagre knowledge of the outlines of German history. 

" The publication of Kohlrausch's History, which is a standard work at home, comes in ' 
very opportunely to supply the dearth of information on this interesting topic. It fur 
nishes a most valuable compend ; and will tend to spread in our country a knowledge 
of one of the most refined as well as most learned of modern nations. Few of the hit 
torcal works of our day are more worthy of the public patronage. — Evening Mirror. 



TEXT BO OK FOR COLLEGES AND S CHOOLS. 

Appleton 6c Co. have recently published the third edition 
GENERAL 

HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION 

IN EUROPE, 

^ From the Feill oi the Roman Empire to the French Revolution, 
ByM.GUIZOT, 

Late Professor of History, now Prime Minister of France. 
With occasional Notes by C. S. Henry, D.D., Professor of Philosophy and 

History in the University of the City of New-York. One volume 

12mo. Price f 1 00. 

" We hail with pleasure the republication of this able work. It is terse and full, and 
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" The work of M. Guizot comprehends a Course of Lectures which he delivered, and 
which contain the spirit of Modern History, all condensed into a focus, to illuminate one 
most impressive feature in the annals of the world. A concise view of the chief themes 
will accurately unfold the importance of this volume. 

* The introductory lecture is devoted to a discussion of the general subject in its prin- 
ciples ; which is followed by the application of them to the condition of European society. 

" M. Guizot next proceeds to develop the deranged state of the kingdoms of Europe, 
after the subversion of the Roman power, and the subdivision of the ancient empire into 
distinct sovereignties ; which is followed by a survey of the feudal system. The varioua 
changes and civil revolutions of the people with the crusades, the conflicts between the 
nierarchical supremacy, and the monarchical and aristocratical authorities also, are de- 
veloped with the fluctuations of society, through their combined tumultuous collisions; 
until the invention of printing, and the maritime discoveries of the fifteenth century, with 
the Reformation, produced a convulsion, whose mighty workings still are exhibited, aad 
the rich fruits of which constantly become more plentiful and fragrant. 

" The two lectures which close the series, are devoted to the English revolution of the 
seventeenth, and the French revolution of the eighteenth century. 

" There are two features in M. Guizot's lectures which are as attractive as they are 
novel. One is, the lofty moral and religious principles which he inculcates. We doubl 
that very few professors of history in our own country, in their prelections, among their 
students, within an American College, would have commingled such a continuous stream 
of the best ethics, with a subject avowedly secular, as M. Guizot has incorporated with 
his lectures addressed to the Parisian infidels. 

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deliberate judgment of an impartial observer, who has embodied his decisions in 
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PREPARING- FOR PUBLICATION, 

COMPLETE HISTORY OF MODERN CIVILIZATION i 

From the Fall of the Roman Empire until the Year 1789. With com- 
plete Chronological and Historical Tables. Translated from the French 
of M. Guizot. 

This volume is the second part of M. Guizot's " Course of Modern History," in thirty 
three Lectures, and is an erudite and luminous development of the principal changei, 
events, derangements, and organization of the modern European nations after the fall 
of the Roman Empire, until they assumed their present chief characteristics. It forma 
a complete filling up, in minute details, of the former work, and is precisely adapted to 
unfold the origin, attributes, and operations of the political systems connected with fett 
dalism, and the subsequent revolutions of Uie kingdoms of Eurof«. 



A NEW SCHOOL AND.REFERENCE DICTIONARY, 

Published ly D. Appleton <Sf Company. 



A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGEf j 

CONTAINING THE ^ 

PRONUNCIATION, ETYMOLOGY, AND EXPLANATION ; 

Of all words authorized by eminent writers ; \ 

TO WHICH ARE ADDED, | 

A VOCABULARY OF THE ROOTS OF ENGLISH WORDS, , 

AND AN ACCENTED LIST OF GREEK, LATIN, AND SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES ' 

BY ALEXANDER REID, A. M., 

Rector of the Circus School, Edinburgh. 
WITH A CRITICAL PREFACE, 

BY HENRY REED, | 

Professor of English Literature in the University of Pennsylvania. . 

One Volume l2mo. of near 600 pages, neatly bound in leather. Price $1 J 

Among the wants of our time was a good Dictionary of our own language, espe | 
cially adapted for academies and schools. The books which have long been in use 
were of little value to the junior st'adents, being too concise in the definitions, and 
immethodical in the arrangement. Reid's English Dictionary was compiled expressly 
to develop the precise analogies and various properties of the authorized words in 
general use, by the standard authors and orators who use our vernacular tongue. 

Exclusive of the large numbers of proper names which are appended, this Diction- 
ary includes four especial improvements — and when their essential value to the 
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guage instantly will be perceived. 

The primitive word is distinguished by a larger type ; and where there are any de- 
rivatives from it, they follow in alphabetical order, and the part of speech is append 
ed, thus furnishing a complete classification of all the connected analogous words of 
the same species. 

With this facility to comprehend accurately the determinate meaning of the English 
word, is conjoined a rich illustration for the linguist. The derivation of all the prim- 
itive words is distinctly given, and the phrases of the languages whence they are de- 
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ancient and modern, by a reference to any word, can ascertain the source whence it 
has been adopted into our own form of speech. This is a great acquisition to the 
person who is anxious to use words in their utmost clearness of meaning. 

To these advantages is subjoined a Vocabulary of the Roots of English Words, 
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Greek, Latin, and Scripture Proper Names. 

With such novel attractions, and with such decisive merits, the recommendations 
which are prefixed to the work by Professors Frost, Henry, Parks, and Reed, Messrs. 
Baker and Greene, principals of the two chief grammar schools at Boston, and by Dr. 
Reese, Superintendent of Common Schools for the city and county of New York, are 
justly due to the labors of the author. They fully corroborate the opinion expressed 
by several other competent authorities, that " Reid's English Dictionary is peculiarly 
adapted for the use of schools and families, and is far superior to any other existing 
limilar compilation." 



COMPLETE WORK ON THE PRACTICAL ARTS. 



D. APPLETON & COMPANY 
Have recently Published, the fourth Amirican Jrom the third London gdilioUt 

A D I CTI O N A R Y 

OF 

ARTS, MANUFACTURES, AND MINES, 

Containing a Clear Exposition of their Principles and Practice. IlluB 

trated with 1241 Wood Engravings. 

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One stout volume 8vo., of 1340 pages, strongly bound in leather, $5. 

lu every point of view, a work like the present can but be regarded as a benefit done 
to theoretical and practical science, to commerce and industry, and an important addi 
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present state of peace and civilization. — Athencbum 

Dr. lire's Dictionary, of which the American edition is now completed, is a stupen- 
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source of salutary instruction and edifying enjoyment. — JVaf. Intel. 

SUPPLEMENT TO DR. URE'S DICTIONARY. 

LATELY PUBLISHED 

RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN ARTS. MANUFACTURES. AND MINES 

Being a Supplement to his Dictionary. 
* By ANDREW URE, M.D., F.R.S., &c., &c. 

One volume, 8vo, of 300 pages and near 200 elaborate woodcuts, in paper cover, $1, or 
in slieepto match the Dictionary, $1 50. 

Amongst many articles entirely new, and others treated at greater length in this Sup- 
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with an Appendix entitled Chemistry Simplified, a Guide to Practitioners in testing 
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VCJ' The Dictionary and Supplement can be had bound together, if preferred, ia 
StoU. Price $6 50. 



COMMON-SCHOOL LIBRARY. 

First Series, 25 volumes — Second, 25 volumes. 

D. APPLETON & CO. respectfully invite the attention of Superintendents and Teacb> 
818 of District Schools, to their valuable Series of Instructive and Moral Works for jouth oi 
the adult. The design has been to embrace in this collection only such Works aa may be 
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A£C0MMENDATION FROM g. S. RANDALL, DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMON ICHOOLI 
FOR THE STATE OF NEW-YORK. 

" I have long been in the habit of recommending your first Series of the School Library 
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their execution no less than the cheap rate at which you are enabled to afford them, rendert 
their introduction into our School District Libraries in every respect desirable." 



FIRST SERIES. 



THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 
HENRY HUDSON. By the author of 
" Uncle Philip's Conversations." 

THE ADVENTURES OF HERNAN 
CORTES, the Conqueror of Mexico. By 
the same. 

THE LIFE OF CAPT. JOHN SMITH. 
By the same. 

THE DAWNINGS OF GENIUS ; or, Early 
Lives of Eminent Men. By Anne Pratt. 

THE MYTHOLOGY OF GREECE AND 
ITALY, adapted for children. By Tho- 
mas Keightly. 

THE P(1PLAR GROVE ; or, Little Harry 
and his Uncle Benjamin. By Mrs. Cop- 

EARLY FRIENDSHIPS. By Mrs. Copley. 
THE PEASANT AND THE PRINCt;; a 

tale illustrative of the French Revolu- 
tion. By Harriet Martineau. 

MASTERMAN READY ; or, the Wreck of 
the Pacific. Written for Young People. 
By Capt. Marryatt. Three volumes 

THb LOOKING-GLASS FOR THE 
MIND ; or, Intellectual Mirror. An 
elegant collection of delightful stories 
and tales. Many plates. 

THE TWIN SISTcRS^ a tale. By Mrs, 
Sandham. 



^9 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS ; or, Hints to thoa« ; 

who would make Home happy. By Mrs. 

Ellis. 
THE DANGERS OF DINING OUT ; or, , 

Hints to those who would make Home i 

happy. To which is added the Confes- 
sions of a Maniac. By Mrs. Ellis. ,. 
SOMERVILLE HALL ; or, Hints to those i 

who would make Home happy. To i 

which is added the Rising Tide. By Mrs 

Ellis. 
LITTLE COIN, MUCH CARE: or, How 

Poor People Live. By Mary Howitt. 
WORK AND WAGES ; or. How Poor Pec • 

pie Live. By Mary Howitt. 
HOPE ON, HOPE EVER; or, the Boyhood I 

of Felix Law. By Mary Howitt. 
STRIVE AND THRIVE, a tale. By Mary 

Howitt. 
SOWING AND REAPING ; or. What will I 

Come of It .' By Mary Howitt. 
ALICE FRANKLIN, a sequel to Sowing ; 

and Reaping. By Mary Howitt, 
WHO SHALL BE GREATEST ? a tale. . 

By Mary Howitt. 
WHICH IS THE WISER? or, People i 

Abroad. By Mary Howitt. 
TIRED OF HOUSEKEEPING. By S. T 

Arthur. 



($E£pND SERIES 

THE LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL, i WOMAN'S WORTH ; or, Hints to Raise 
By Robert Southey. LL. D. ' ^Jtgt the Female Character. A very valuable 

HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLU-'fj[ ^orMHi^^.51? J^lf^J' £'?!?®^:. 
and Consequences " - ^~ ™ 



i 



TION, its Causes 

By F. Maclean Rowan. 2 vols. 
THE ADVENTURES OF DANIEL 

BOONE, the Kentucky Rifleman. By 

the author of " Uncle Philip's Conversa- 
tions." 
THE YOUNG STUDENT ; or, Ralph and 

Victor. By Madame Guizot. In 3 vols. 

One of the best moral and instructive 

works ever written. 
LOVE AND MONEY, an Every-Day Tale. 

By Mary Howftt. 
THE MINISTER'S FAMILY ; or,Hints to 

make Home happy. By Mrs. Ellip. 
PHILIP RANDOLPH, a tale of Virginia. 

By Mary Gertrude. 
MY OWN STORY, the Autobiography of 

a Child. By Mary Howitt. 
THE TWO APPRENTICES; a Tale for 



ft 

Youth. By Mary Howitt 

Tke volumes are furnished strnnffly hound in hather, at 30 cents each hy the Series< 



HE SETTLERS IN CANADA, writtea 

for Youth. By Capt. Marryatt. 2 vols. 
MY UNCLE, THE CLOCKMAKER, a 

tale. By Mary Howitt. 
THE GIRLS' MANUAL ; containing the 

Principles of Conduct. 
THE BOYS' MANUAL ; containing the 

Principles of Conduct. 
THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER, a Picture 

of Humble Life. By Mrs. Cameron. 
THE YOUNG MAN FROM HOME, in a 

Series of Letters on Dangers and Dutief. 

By J. A. James. 
FAMILIAR LETTERS ON CHEMISTRY, 

and its application to Physiology, Com. 

merce, and Agriculture. By Prof. Liebig 
THE GOLDMAKER'S VILLAGE ; an ex- 
cellent narrative. Translated from the 

German of H. Zchokke. 




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